L  I  B  R.AR.Y 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY 
OF    ILLINOIS 


H294-M 


HI.  HIST.  SU»ft» 


COL.  JESSE  HARPER 


LIFE  OF 

COL.  JESSE  HARPER 

OF 

DANVILLE,  ILLS. 

FARM -BOY,  LAWYER 
EDITOR, AUTHOR 
ORATOR,  SCHOLAR 
AND  REFORMER 


PRESENTED  IN  A  BRIEF  BIO- 
GRAPHY, TO  WHICH  IS  ADDED 
CHOICE  SELECTIONS  FROM  HIS 
SPEECHES  AND  WRITINGS 
THROUGHOUT  A  LONG  AND 
BRILLIANT  CAREER;  ALSO  THE 
TESTIMONY  OF  FRIENDS  AND 
FELLOW  -  WORKERS  TO  HIS 

ABILITY,     WORTH 

AND  EXCELLENCE 

Compiled  and  written  by  A.  C.  BARTON 
Assisted  by  REV.  W.  B.  GALLAHER 

BOTH  OF  DANVILLE,  ILLS. 


CHICAGO 

M.   A.    DONOHUE    &    COMPANY 

407-429    DEARBORN  ST. 
1904 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Introductory 3 

Biographical  Sketch  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper 5 

Funeral  of  Mrs.  Harper 16 

Alexander  C.  Barton 19 

Harper  as  Rev.  W.  B.  Gallaher  Knew  Him 38 

The  Question  Stated 41 

Mr.  Harper's  Position  on  Temperance 53 

Thirty  Years'  Conflict 75 

Murder  and  Money 102 

Insanity 195 

The  Work  in  the  Field 196 

Extracts  from  Speeches  and  Writings  of  Col.  Jesse 

Harper 208 

What  the  Gold  Conspirators  Want 221 

Land  Monopoly 227 

}The  Fifth  Step 246 

,  %}The  Origin  of  Money  and  Its  Uses 259 

Appendix 276 

M-n  Odd  Fellow's  Address 318 

v  Reception  Speech  of  Jesse  Harper,  Esq.,  to  the  Re- 
turned Volunteers  of  Warren  County 332 

A  Temperance  Letter 340 

Hon.  Wm.  R.  Boyer 342 

'"  The  Lecture 344 

'Editorials 345 

^  The  Spirit  of  Speculation 356 

;-T  Sunday  Laws 362 

Editorial  Correspondence 364 

Notice 368 


INTRODUCTORY. 

Real  lives  are  lived,  not  written.  The  written  life, 
though  splendidly  penned  in  the  most  glowing  and  thrill- 
ing rhetoric,  is  at  best  but  a  verbal  photograph  of  the  real 
life. 

It  lacks  the  fire,  the  spirit,  the  living  bloom  and  beauty 
and  the  actual  personal  magnetism  of  a  great  man's  real 
life,  in  flesh  and  blood,  with  a  mighty,  working  heart  and 
brain,  expressing  themselves,  by  turns,  in  the  bright, 
flashing  wit  and  humor  and  in  the  burning  and  inspired 
earnestness  and  sincerity  of  lofty,  living  thoughts  and 
words. 

Therefore,  this  book  can  only  present  a  comparatively 
lifeless  picture  of  the  real  life  of  its  eminent  and  dis- 
tinguished subject,  the  late  Col.  Jesse  Harper,  of  Dan- 
ville, 111. 

It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  the  compiler  of  this 
book  could  not  obtain  more  material  for  it  in  the  form 
of  anecdotes  concerning  the  boyhood  of  Colonel  Harper, 
and  others,  exhibiting  his  peculiarities  and  eccentricities 
both  as  a  private  citizen  and  a  public  man  in  after  life. 

It  is  much  more  to  be  regretted  that  this  book-picture 
of  Colonel  Harper's  life  loses  half  its  fidelity  to  life,  and 
especially  to  the  inner  depths  of  Colonel  Harper's  genial, 
heroic  and  self-sacrificing  soul,  through  the  fact  that 
his  vast  and  carefully  preserved  correspondence  of  many 
years  was  destroyed  by  fire. 

This  correspondence,  in  which  he  had  preserved  many 
duplicates  of  his  own  letters,  embraced  eminent  names, 
not  only  in  the  ranks  of  the  reforms  Colonel  Harper 
represented,  but  also  in  the  ranks  of  the  two  old  political 
parties  to  which  he  was  so  long  opposed.  This  corre- 
spondence was  of  great  historic  importance  and  value.  It 
not  only  revealed  the  innermost  depths  of  Colonel 
Harper's  great  soul  in  all  its  varied  moods  and  phases, 
but  also  revealed  the  inner  history  of  important  reform 


4  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

movements,  and  the  untold  heroism  and  self-sacrifice  of 
his  grand  fellow-workers,  from  the  humblest  to  the  most 
eminent  among  them. 

Under  these  drawbacks  this  book  is  issued,  with  much 
diffidence  and  with  a  deep  sense  of  its  inadequacy  to  do 
anything  like  complete  justice  to  the  character  and  serv- 
ices of  Colonel  Harper,  and  to  fulfill  the  high  expecta- 
tions of  the  many  thousands  of  his  warm  and  earnest  per- 
sonal friends  and  admirers,  whose  kind  and  considerate 
indulgence  and  sympathy  we  ask.  A.  C.  BARTON. 


v     BRIEF    SKETCH 

OF  THE  LIFE,  SERVICES,  DEATH  AND  FUNERAL 
OF  COL.  JESSE  HARPER. 

Col.  Jesse  Harper  was  of  the  "Lincoln  type"  of  dis- 
tinguished men.  He  was  of  humble  origin,  being  origin- 
ally a  poor  farm  boy,  unschooled  in  the  luxurious  gaieties, 
refinements  and  polite  shams  and  deceits  of  falsely  called 
"high  life."  By  dint  of  great  native  energy  and  of  a 
noble  ambition  to  serve  humanity,  he,  like  Lincoln,  be- 
came a  self-made  man  of  the  great  common  people, 
endowed  with  a  stubborn,  rugged  and  indomitable  hon- 
esty, a  clean,  strong,  far-reaching  intellect  and  a  great, 
unselfish  heart,  whose  deep  world-wide  sympathies  and 
affections  embraced  the  toiling  millions  everywhere. 

He  was  a  plain  and  uncorrupted  man  of  the  people, 
childlike  in  his  teachableness  and  in  his  frank,  open  and 
simple  ways  of  living  and  acting,  both  publicly  and  pri- 
vately ;  yet  kinglike  in  his  royal  command  of  the  heights 
and  depths  of  the  mightiest  social  and  political  problems, 
and  prophet-like  in  his  glorious  and  inspiring  visions  of 
the  golden  dawning  of  the  "better  day,"  when  labor 
shall  have  its  own  and  justice  and  liberty  shall  glorify 
the  whole  earth. 

His  was  indeed  a  kingly  mastery  and  munificence,  in 
that  high  and  divine  thought  realm  out  of  which  springs 
the  spirit  and  the  genius  of  all  the  reforms  that  bless 
mankind ;  and  if  he  did  not  live  to  see  his  thoughts  real- 
ized it  was  because  that  throbbing  with  the  life  of  God 
they  spanned  the  ages  yet  to  be  and  not  his  own  little 
hour  alone. 

The  lives  of  such  men  prove  abundantly  that  neither 
mountains  of  gold  nor  thrones  of  imperial  power  can  ever 
seduce  the  Lincoln  type  of  great  men,  to  which  Colonel 
Harper  belonged,  from  their  incorruptible  love  of  the 


6  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

common  people  and  their  devotion  to  the  common  people's 
dearest  rights  and  liberties. 

If  it  be  true  that  "Every  man  has  his  price,"  then  the 
"price"  of  the  Colonel  Harpers  of  this  world  is  measured 
in  the  coin  of  God's  heavenly  kingdom  on  high,  for  which 
coin  no  dirty  and  corrupt  politician  ever  had  or  ever  will 
have  the  privilege  and  opportunity  of  selling  his  vile 
services. 

This  incorruptible  man  of  the  people,  Col.  Jesse  Harper, 
was  born  near  Rushville,  Ind.,  June  21,  1823,  where  he 
remained  with  his  parents  till  he  was  thirteen  years  of 
age,  when,  with  his  parents,  he  removed  to  Michigan 
City,  Ind. 

His  father  was  a  farmer  and  a  poor  man,  a  born  lover 
of  truth  and  liberty,  and  so  devoted  to  the  anti-slavery 
cause,  in  his  day,  that  he  was  once  ridden  on  a  rail 
through  the  streets  of  his  home  town,  for  bravely 
and  openly  advocating  abolition  principles  at  a  time  when 
none  but  grand  moral  heroes  dared  to  do  so. 

It  is  easy  to  see,  therefore,  whence  came  to  the  young 
Jesse  that  great  legacy  of  sublime  courage  and  heroism, 
joined  to  deathless  love  of  liberty,  which  inspired  and 
glorified  his  whole  life. 

Heredity  will  tell,  and  it  is  certain  that  love  of  liberty 
for  the  poor,  the  weak  and  the  down-trodden  fired,  from 
birth,  every  blood-drop  in  the  veins  of  Jesse  Harper. 

Young  Jesse  labored  hard  on  his  father's  farm  till  he 
was  fifteen  years  of  age.  Many  a  time  he  drove  an  ox 
team  and  hauled  logs  to  the  saw  mill. 

At  Michigan  City,  Ind.,  after  dropping  farm  work,  he 
was  apprenticed  to  learn  the  carpenter  and  cabinet  mak- 
ers' trade,  at  which  he  became  a  skilled  and  proficient 
workman. 

He  never  went  to  school  till  he  was  fifteen  years  of  age, 
at  which  time  he  could  neither  read  nor  write. 

Yet  after  leaving  the  farm,  by  means  of  good  habits 
and  of  careful  economy,  he  was  enabled  to  get  schooling, 
which  fitted  him,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  to  enter  Ober- 
lin  College,  Ohio,  an  institution  famous  for  its  liberty- 
loving  atmosphere  and  for  the  great  names  it  has  given 
to  the  country's  history. 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  7 

On  his  return  from  college  he  was  called  on  to  make 
the  first  Fourth  of  July  speech  he  ever  made.  Three 
thousand  people  of  his  home  town,  Michigan  City,  and 
its  vicinity  turned  out  to  hear  the  "self-made  boy  orator," 
as  his  friends  and  neighbors  proudly  and  fondly  styled 
him. 

The  oration  was  a  thoughtful,  lofty  and  patriotic  effort 
for  so  young  a  speaker,  and  gave  rich  promise  of  the 
future  power  and  brilliancy  of  the  young  orator's  then 
opening  career. 

In  1848  Jesse  Harper  married  Miss  Laura  T.  Foster, 
of  La  Porte,  Ind.,  where  the  two  went  to  house-keeping. 

This  union  of  kindred  and  loving  hearts  was  an  ideal 
one,  which  had  much  to  do  with  the  success  and  happi- 
ness of  Colonel  Harper's  long,  busy  and  eventful  life. 

Nature  could  not  have  formed  a  better  wife  and  life 
companion  for  a  public  man  and  a  reformer  than  Mrs. 
Harper  proved  to  be. 

Her  culture  and  intelligence  with  her  own  love  of  all 
reforms  for  the  betterment  of  humanity  eminently  fitted 
her  to  give  excellent  counsel  and  advice  and  material 
assistance  to  her  busy  and  often  careworn,  and  sometimes 
discouraged,  husband.  Her  noble  and  untiring  devotion 
to  her  husband's  work  and  success  was  a  beautiful  marvel 
of  patient  and  unwearying  wifely  love  and  confidence, 
which  neither  wavered  nor  slackened  up  to  her  death  Oct. 
2,  1895. 

After  his  marriage  Colonel  Harper  began  the  study  of 
law  at  his  then  home  city,  La  Porte,  Ind.  He  had  for 
a  time  thought  of  studying  for  the  ministry,  being  a  very 
religious  young  man.  But,  modestly  distrusting  his  fit- 
ness for  what  he  conceived  to  be  the  most  sacred  and 
responsible  calling  on  earth,  he  finally  concluded  to  fit 
himself  for  the  lawyer's  profession. 

After  a  couise  in  the  study  of  law  he  moved  to  Wil- 
liamsport,  Ind.,  where  he  entered  into  a  law  partnership 
with  the  Hon.  B.  F.  Gregory,  and  remained  for  twenty 
years  in  this  partnership,  the  firm  name  being  Gregory  & 
Harper. 

During  a  part  of  these  twenty  years,  and  prior  to  1860, 
Colonel  Harper  and  Abraham  Lincoln  were  colleagues 


8  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

in  a  number  of  cases  in  law.  This  co-working  of  these 
kindred  spirits  knit  these  homely,  hearty  and  brainy  self- 
made  men  in  strong  and  sympathetic  friendship  on  both 
sides. 

Thus  it  was  that  throughout  the  famous  joint  discus- 
sion between  Lincoln  and  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  in  Illinois, 
in  1858,  Colonel  Harper  was,  perhaps,  the  nearest  and 
closest  friend  of  Lincoln. 

At  the  memorable  and  historic  Republican  National 
Convention  in  Chicago,  May  18,  1860,  Colonel  Harper 
had  the  distinguished  honor,  in  behalf  of  the  Indiana 
delegation,  of  placing  in  nomination  for  President  of  the 
United  States  that  immortal  commoner  and  world's 
greatest  emancipationist,  Abraham  Lincoln,  whose  final 
martyrdom  by  the  assassin's  bullet  swept  the  whole  civil- 
ized world  with  one  mighty  sea  of  deep  and  honest 
mourning. 

Colonel  Harper  was  always  proud  that  he  had  the 
honor  to  place  before  this  convention,  in  the  high  name 
of  his  native  state,  not  only  the  successful  candidate  for 
the  highest  office  in  the  gift  of  the  people,  but  a  candidate 
who,  springing  from  the  lowly  bosom  of  the  plain,  com- 
mon people,  glorified  his  exalted  station  with  a  deathless 
honor  such  as  never  king  or  emperor  gave  to  the  proud- 
est throne  on  earth. 

Mr.  Harper  was  a  life-long  friend  and  admirer  of 
Abraham  Lincoln  and  frequently  referred  to  him  in  his 
speeches  and  writings. 

Once  when  I  chanced  to  visit  Colonel  Harper,  in  1884, 
the  latter  showed  me  a  package  of  letters,  carefully  tied 
together,  which  he  said  were  all  autograph  letters  sent 
him,  from  time  to  time,  by  Abraham  Lincoln. 

Among  these  letters,  all  of  which  the  Colonel  warmly 
declared  that  he  proudly  and  fondly  cherished,  he  showed 
me  one  in  which  Mr.  Lincoln  personally  thanked  Mr. 
Harper  for  bringing  his  (Lincoln's)  name  before  the 
Republican  convention  at  Chicago  in  1860. 

In  this  year  (1860)  Colonel  Harper  became  the  at- 
torney for  the  Wabash  Railroad  Company,  and  proved  to 
be  able  and  efficient  in  that  capacity. 

In  1863  Mr.  Harper  raised  two  companies  of  soldiers 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  9 

for  service  in  the  Union  army,  and  was  commissioned  a 
regimental  colonel  by  Oliver  P.  Morton,  the  great  "war" 
governor  of  Indiana. 

Though  circumstances  prevented  Colonel  Harper  from 
seeing  active  service  in  the  war,  he  nevertheless  received 
the  title  of  Colonel  all  his  life. 

By  this  familiar  title  he  was  affectionately  known  and 
honored  in  many  scholarly  and  comfortable  homes  all 
over  the  United  States,  but  more  especially  in  millions 
of  the  humble  homes  of  the  toiling  masses,  from  the  snows 
of  the  Green  Mountains  to  the  sands  of  the  Golden 
Gate,  and  from  the  hunter's  lodge  in  the  frozen  wilds 
of  the  far  northwest  to  the  farthest  cabin  in  the  sunny 
south's  rich  paradise  of  bloom  and  flowers. 

In  1866  Mr.  Harper  was  editor  of  the  Williamsport, 
Ind.,  Republican,  and  in  1869  he  bought  the  Commercial, 
in  Danville,  111.,  which  paper  is  still  living,  as  a  Repub- 
lican paper,  in  the  form  of  a  thriving  and  vigorous  even- 
ing daily. 

In  1872  the  Colonel  sold  out  his  interests  in  Williams- 
port,  Ind.,  and  moved  his  family  to  Danville,  111.,  where 
he  practiced  law  up  to  1876. 

In  1876  he  was  one  of  the  four  men  who  established 
the  Danville  Daily  News,  now  a  flourishing  Republican 
paper  edited  ably  for  years  by  W.  R.  Jewell,  one  of  the 
most  prominent  and  influential  Republicans  in  the  State 
of  Illinois,  who,  though  stoutly  opposed  to  Colonel 
Harper  in  politics  for  many  years  past,  has  always  been 
his  warm  and  sincere  friend  personally. 

In  1878  Colonel  Harper  and  Mr.  J.  T.  Mathers  started 
the  People's  Advocate,  a  paper  published  at  Jackson- 
ville, 111. 

To  all  of  these  papers  Colonel  Harper's  name  and  his 
trenchant  and  incisive  pen  gave  strong  character  and 
force  in  their  different  fields  of  service. 

All  these  years  he  was  a  consistent  and  devoted  Chris- 
tian of  the  Presbyterian  order  of  faith,  and  was  a  careful 
and  devoted  Bible  student. 

He  had  the  Bible  in  many  different  languages  and 
could  read  and  translate  it  in  Hebrew,  Greek  and  Latin. 

He  once  made  a  translation  of  some  passages  of  the 


io  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

original  Greek  of  the  New  Testament  concerning  the 
resurrection,  which  was  accepted  and  freely  used  by  emi- 
ent  Biblical  scholars. 

He  also  wrote  a  pamphlet  on  "The  Resurrection  of 
the  Body,"  which  attracted  wide  attention  for  its  scholar- 
ship and  logic,  and  greatly  strengthened  the  faith  of 
many. 

He  had  one  of  the  choicest  and  most  extensive  private 
libraries  to  be  found  anywhere  in  this  country.  It  em- 
braced the  highest  and  best  authorities  on  a  very  wide 
range  of  topics,  in  which  history,  morals,  religion  and 
economics  were  equally  and  impartially  represented. 

Congressmen,  senators,  governors  of  states  and  eminent 
divines  have  visited  his  library  to  obtain  information  they 
could  not  readily  obtain  elsewhere. 

It  was  not  till  1876  that  Colonel  Harper  left  the  Repub- 
lican party,  or,  as  he  preferred  to  put  it,  the  Republican 
party  had  "left  him  and  the  original  principles  of  its  pure 
and  illustrious  founders,  to  become  the  trusted  friend  and 
ally  of  the  great  robber  monopolies  of  the  country." 

In  this  year  (1876)  he  attended  the  National  Green- 
back Convention  in  Indianapolis,  Ind.,  as  a  private  citizen, 
taking  no  part  in  the  convention. 

The  next  week  he  went  to  the  National  Republican 
Convention  held  at  Toledo,  Ohio,  going  as  a  private 
citizen,  not  as  a  delegate,  although  he  had  been  asked 
to  go  as  a  delegate  at  large,  which  position  he  declined 
to  accept.  He  had  been  asked  if  he  wanted  any  place 
on  the  ticket  to  be  nominated  at  the  Toledo  convention. 
He  answered : 

"No ;  I  only  want  to  learn  what  the  platform  will  be, 
with  its  inside  history,  machinery  and  purposes." 

The  convention  put  forth  a  "hard  money"  platform. 
This  decided  the  Colonel's  future  political  affiliations.  A 
week  later  Colonel  Harper,  then  a  resident  of  Danville, 
111.,  advertised  a  politicrd  meeting  at  which  he  would 
speak  on  the  issues  of  the  hour. 

It  was  at  this  meeting  that  he  first,  to  the  great  aston- 
ishment of  many  of  his  hearers,  squarely  and  openly  de- 
clared himself  in  favor  of  the  National  Greenback  party. 

He  soon  became  one  of  the  leaders  of  that  party.     In 


Life  of  Col,  Jesse  Harper.  n 

this  year  (1876)  Colonel  Harper  gave  up  the  practice  of 
the  law  to  go  from  one  end  of  the  land  to  the  other  as 
an  advocate  of  the  principles  of  the  Greenback  party, 
to  which  work,  principally,  he  devoted  all  the  most  active 
years  of  his  remaining  life. 

In  1878,  while  he  was  making  campaign  speeches  for 
the  Greenback  party  in  the  State  of  Maine,  he  was  nom- 
inated as  a  candidate  for  congress  in  the  twelfth  Illinois 
congressional  district.  He  returned  home  in  time  to 
make  only  six  speeches  before  the  election,  in  which  he 
was,  of  course,  defeated,  being  the  candidate  of  a  new 
and  weak  party.  He  received  the  largest  vote  ever 
cast  in  the  district  on  a  third  party  ticket. 

In  1880  Colonel  Harper  was  chosen  chairman  of  the 
National  Executive  Committee  of  the  Greenback  party, 
and  issued  a  circular  known  as  the  "Harper  Call,"  asking 
for  five  hundred  thousand  signatures  in  favor  of  the 
Greenback  policy. 

Names  rolled  in  from  all  over  the  United  States  and 
the  quota  was  soon  filled. 

Four  years  later,  in  1884,  at  the  "People's  Party"  state 
convention  held  in  Bloomington,  111.,  Mr.  Harper  was 
nominated  for  governor. 

Still  later,  in  1890,  the  Farmers'  Alliance  and  F.  M. 
B.  A.  joined  with  the  People's  Party  in  forming  the 
largest  congressional  convention  ever  held  in  Colonel 
Harper's  district,  and  at  this  convention  he  was  nominated 
for  congress  on  the  third  ballot.  It  is  needless  to  add 
that  though  he  polled  a  good  vote  he  was  defeated  as 
a  candidate,  having  espoused  radical  principles,  for  the 
adoption  of  which  the  great  conservative  majority  of  his 
fellow  citizens  were  not  yet  ripe  and  ready. 

After  this  last  date  (1890)  up  to  within  a  couple  of 
years  before  his  death  Colonel  Harper  refused  to  alto- 
gether lay  off  his  harness,  notwithstanding  his  advanced 
years ;  and  when  age  and  weakness  began  to  impair  his 
political  campaigning  he  gave  much  time,  thought  and 
research  to  the  great  religious  question  of  "The  Second 
Coming  of  Christ,"  with  the  millennium  following,  on 
which  latter  subject  he  wrote  an  able  and  very  interesting 
book,  entitled,  "The  Millennial  Dawn." 


12  .Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

The  Colonel  was  a  prolific  writer  as  well  as  an  inex- 
haustible speaker,  and  has  published  many  interesting 
and  able  pamphlets  on  various  subjects. 

His  last  public  address  was  made  in  1897,  after  which 
he  rapidly  declined  in  health  and  strength,  till  death 
crowned  his  long,  brave  and  brilliant  labors  with  the 
blessed  balm  of  rest  and  the  fadeless  beauty  of  finished 
grace  and  loveliness. 

Throughout  his  whole  career  as  a  reformer  Colonel 
Harper  was  a  strong  and  consistent  advocate  of  the  tem- 
perance cause,  and  made  hundreds  of  vigorous  and  ear- 
nest temperance  addresses  during  his  life. 

He  always  viewed  the  temperance  cause  as  a  necessary 
adjunct  of  labor  reform,  and  was  at  all  times  glad  of 
an  opportunity  to  help  the  temperance  work  in  any  and 
all  of  its  different  phases. 

In  1880  he  published  a  fifty-seven-page  pamphlet  on 
"The  Liquor  Traffic,"  which  was  one  of  the  most  schol- 
arly and  able  efforts  on  this  great  and  vital  subject,  and 
choice  extracts  from  which  are  given  in  this  book. 

As  an  orator  Colonel  Harper  had  but  few  equals  for 
wit,  humor  and  eloquence  combined.  For  many  splendid 
years  his  ringing  voice  was  heard  on  the  rostrum  from 
the  far  eastern  shores  of  the  Atlantic  to  where  the  Pacific 
washes  California's  golden  sands ;  and  he  was  known 
from  the  frozen  lakes  of  the  north,  in  whose  zenith  gleams 
the  constellation  of  the  Great  Bear,  to  the  vine-clad  hills 
and  the  orange  groves  that  stand  bathed  in  the  dreamy 
beauty  of  the  sun-loved  south. 

In  the  man's  great  soul  this  broad  and  varied  expanse 
was  reflected  as  one  common  field  of  sorely  beset  and 
suffering  humanity,  ever  crying  for  more  life,  light,  lib- 
erty and  happiness,  and  he  felt  it  his  divine  mission  to 
hear  and  answer  the  cry  with  all  the  eloquence  human 
tongue  could  command. 

Colonel  Harper  was  not  only  a  golden-tongued  orator 
and  a  brilliant,  epigrammatic  writer,  but  also  a  wonderful 
encyclopedia  of  varied  and  extensive  knowledge. 

It  has  been  said  of  him  by  admiring  friends  that  he 
had  a  deeper  and  wider  knowledge  of  a  vast  variety  of 
subjects,  and  had  more  readiness  in  communicating  that 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  13 

knowledge,  than  had  any  other  known  public  man  in  this 
country  in  the  last  hundred  years. 

"None  knew  him  but  to  love,"  and,  knowing  him  really 
and  truly,  could  "name  him  but  to  praise." 

At  the  Allied  People's  Party  Convention  in  Louisville, 
Ky.,  April  3,  1902,  the  following  resolution  was  adopted, 
sympathizing  with  Colonel  Harper  and  his  family  in  the 
Colonel's  last  illness : 

"Resolved,  That  the  Allied  People's  Party,  in  conven- 
tion assembled,  in  Louisville,  Ky.,  April  3,  1902,  regret 
to  hear  of  the  dangerous  illness  of  the  grand  old  hero 
and  pioneer  reformer,  Col.  Jesse  Harper,  who  has  spent 
his  life  in  the  endeavor  to  uplift  down-trodden  humanity, 
and  whose  last  words  to  me  were  to  'Press  on  in  the  good 
work  till  the  complete  emancipation  of  oppressed  labor 
is  finally  and  forever  achieved.'  " 

Colonel  Harper  ended  his  grand  and  noble  career  by 
death,  after  a  couple  of  years  of  very  feeble  health,  at  six 
o'clock  p.  m.,  April  23,  1902,  being  seventy-nine  years  of 
age. 

The  funeral  services  were  held  at  the  residence  of 
Aimer  Harper,  one  of  the  two  living  sons  of  Colonel 
Harper,  and  with  which  one  the  Colonel  was  residing 
at  the  time  of  his  death.  Rev.  J.  M.  Gaiser,  pastor  of  the 
First  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church  of  Danville,  one 
of  the  ablest  and  most  effective  orators  among  the  pastors 
of  the  city,  preached  the  funeral  discourse  and  conducted 
the  funeral  exercises. 

He  wisely  and  fittingly  gave  a  thoughtful,  earnest  and 
sympathetic  talk  over  the  remains  of  the  old  hero  of 
reform,  rather  than  an  ornate  and  labored  sermon;  and 
in  this  excellent  talk  gave  a  vivid  and  truthful  analysis 
of  the  life  and  character  of  the  veteran  lover  and  servant 
of  humanity,  lying  before  him  in  the  sweet  and  welcome 
repose  of  death. 

In  his  coffin,  his  cheeks  thinned  and  hollowed  by  wast- 
ing sickness,  Colonel  Harper's  face  bore  a  remarkable 
resemblance  to  that  of  his  own  ideal  man,  Abraham  Lin- 
coln, as  the  latter's  face  is  seen  in  nearly  all  of  the  pic- 
tures representing  the  first  and  greatest  of  our  martyred 
Presidents.  This  remarkable  resemblance  was  noted  by 


14  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

a  number  of  persons  who  looked  on  Colonel  Harper's 
coffined  body. 

The  floral  funeral  tributes  were  especially  choice  and 
beautiful  as  well  as  numerous.  Many  home  friends  and 
a  number  from  the  country  and  from  other  cities  attended 
the  funeral. 

The  pall-bearers  were:  A.  C.  Barton,  C.  B.  Fenton, 
H.  P.  Phillips,  H.  E.  Thomas  and  M.  L.  Learnard. 

A  long  line  of  carriages  followed  all  that  was  mortal 
of  this  eminent  man  and  humble  Christian  to  its  last  rest- 
ing place  in  Spring  Hill  Cemetery,  the  lovely  Danville 
burying  place. 

Colonel  Harper  leaves  behind  him  two  sons,  Aimer  and 
Edward  S.,  the  first  and  younger  one  being  an  excellent 
workman  and  a  successful  contractor,  and  the  other  a 
well-known  printer,  of  a  thoughtful  and  progressive 
mind. 

The  Colonel  also  leaves  after  him  an  adopted  daughter, 
a  most  estimable  lady,  who  is  the  wife  of  Mr.  Jesse  Lucas, 
of  Danville,  111. 

Mrs.  Lucas  testifies  from  long  experience  in  the  home  of 
Colonel  Harper's  family  that  the  Colonel  was  the  kindest 
of  husbands  and  fathers,  and  bore  all  trials,  ills  and  re- 
verses with  a  wonderful  sweetness  of  temper  and  a  gentle 
patience  and  forbearance,  born  of  a  kind  and  loving  heart 
and  of  a  lofty  and  serene  faith  in  the  providence  of  God. 

Colonel  Harper  was  one  of  America's  truest  and  grand- 
est untitled  noblemen. 

God's  royal  stars  and  ribbons,  marking  heaven's  high- 
est orders  of  nobility  among  men,  the  stars  and  ribbons  of 
great  thoughts  and  noble  sympathies,  adorned  his  true 
heart  and  his  grand  intellect. 

Without  hope  of  pecuniary  or  political  reward,  he  gave 
the  whole  strength  of  his  great  heart  and  brain  to  the 
redemption  of  his  country  from  what  he  profoundly  and 
sincerely  believed  to  be  the  soul-blighting,  man-crushing 
greed  and  tyranny  of  corporate  wealth,  entrenched  in 
corrupt  and  deceitful  legislation. 

No  eloquent  orator  ever  pleaded  the  cause  of  the  toil- 
ing millions  with  sublimer  enthusiasm,  a  more  massive 
and  masterly  logic,  a  keener  wit,  a  broader  humor,  or 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  15 

with  a  more  heart-thrilling  music  in  his  ringing  words 
of  truth  and  righteousness. 

No  statesman  and  philosopher  ever  had  a  wider  and 
deeper  grasp  of  the  mighty  problems,  moral,  social,  po- 
litical and  religious,  in  which  the  highest  human  progress 
and  happiness,  and  the  greatest  glory  and  dominion  of 
God,  are  alike  involved. 

No  braver  warrior,  no  surer  swordsman  ever  drew  a 
keen  Damascus  blade  in  any  battle  of  the  world's  history. 
His  sword,  however,  was  a  moral  and  intellectual  one. 
Its  hilt  bore  royal  gems  of  thought  and  feeling,  instead 
of  princely  pearls  and  diamonds,  and  its  blade  shone  not 
alone  with  the  gleam  of  burnished  steel,  but  with  the 
sparkling  dew  of  loving  kindness.  No  cleaner,  purer  man 
ever  stood  up,  unspotted,  incorruptible  and  invincible,  in 
defense  of  cruelly  robbed  and  crushed  humanity,  against 
the  mightiest  and  most  daring  robbers  of  all  the  ages. 

No  glorious  epic  ever  possessed  more  rythmic  grace 
and  beauty  than  did  Colonel  Harper's  long  life  of  lofty, 
brainy,  loving  and  unselfish  devotion  to  the  cause  of  the 
bitterly  wronged  and  sorely  suffering  millions  of  man- 
kind. 

Such  was  Col.  Jesse  Harper,  a  childlike  man,  a  witty 
and  brilliant  orator,  a  learned  lawyer,  a  critical  scholar, 
a  gifted  teacher,  a  profound  philosopher,  and  a  fearless 
and  daring  reformer,  in  whom  was  beautifully  joined  and 
admirably  balanced,  a  clear,  strong  and  massive  intellect, 
with  a  great,  warm  and  loving  heart. 

May  this  humble  book  not  have  been  written  in  vain  as 
a  tribute  to  his  memory  and  to  the  great  reforms  for 
which  he  so  devotedly  labored  through  long  and  shining 
years,  years  as  gentle  and  lovely  on  their  private  as  they 
were  rugged  and  militant  on  their  public  side. 

May  the  book  help  to  inspire  in  the  hearts  of  future 
rising  heroes  of  reform  the  sublime  spirit  and  purpose  of 
Colonel  Harper's  life,  that  spirit  and  purpose  at  whose 
forward  march  the  altar  fires  of  truth  and  righteousness 
spontaneously  arise  as  flowers  are  born  at  the  footsteps  of 
spring. 


FUNERAL    OF   MRS.    HARPER. 

TRIBUTES  OF  RESPECT  FOR  A  BELOVED  AND  TALENTED 
WOMAN. 

Yesterday  afternoon  at  1 :3<D  o'clock  a  large  number  of 
friends  gathered  at  the  late  home  of  Mrs.  Laura  Terrill 
Harper,  No.  808  North  Gilbert  street,  to  take  a  last  leave 
of  the  lovable  and  talented  woman  whose  death  occurred 
last  Saturday.  Mrs.  Harper  was  the  wife  of  Col.  Jesse 
Harper  and  a  woman  of  rare  intellectual  powers. 

The  house  was  entirely  filled  with  friends  and  neighbors 
of  the  deceased.  Rev.  S.  H.  Whitlock,  of  Kimber  M.  E. 
Church,  assisted  by  Rev.  S.  S.  Jones,  officiated.  Rev. 
Whitlock  read  a  biographical  sketch  of  Mrs.  Harper,  and 
also  spoke  of  her  life  and  character.  Rev.  Jones  offered 
prayer. 

Mesdames  E.  D.  Marsh  and  V.  Peyton  and  Messrs. 
J.  J.  Flux  and  Orville  Herlocker  sang  "Rock  of  Ages" 
and  "Asleep  in  Jesus,"  favorite  hymns  of  Mrs.  Harper. 

The  pall-bearers  were:  Messrs.  C.  B.  Fenton,  Captain 
Ewing,  E.  H.  Langhans,  A.  J.  Fisher,  John  Whitmeyer 
and  A.  C.  Barton.  A  long  procession  followed  the  re- 
mains to  Springhill. 

Among  the  beautiful  floral  offerings  were:  Bouquet, 
E.  S.  A. ;  wreath  of  white  carnations,  Mesdames  Cole, 
Snyder,  Baum  and  Schuette ;  a  beautiful  design  of  car- 
nations and  roses,  Hon.  J.  G.  Cannon ;  pillow,  with  the 
word,  "Mother,"  the  family.  There  were  numerous  other 
casket  bouquets. 

BIOGRAPHICAL. 

Laura  Terrill  Foster,  daughter  of  Seneca  and  Pauline 
Foster,  was  born  March  10,  1824,  at  Easton,  Prebble 
county,  Ohio.  Her  grandfather  was  Judge  Luke  Foster, 
the  founder  of  the  female  college  at  Glendale,  Ohio,  from 
which  institution  she  received  her  education  and  was 

16 


MRS.  LAURA    T.  HARPER 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  17 

graduated  with  honors.  With  her  parents  she  removed 
to  La  Porte,  Ind.,  in  1833.  She  was  married  to  Col. 
Jesse  Harper  in  December,  1848,  and  to  them  were  born 
four  children,  two  of  whom,  with  their  father,  still  sur- 
vive. Their  names  are  Edward  S.  and  Aimer  F.  Harper. 
The  names  of  the  deceased  children  are  Laura,  Belle  and 
Pauline  Harper.  Mrs.  Harper  also  leaves  an  adopted 
daughter,  Mrs.  Jesse  Lucas,  to  mourn  her  loss.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Harper  resided  in  Williamsport,  Ind.,  about  eight- 
een years.  In  1871  they  removed  from  the  latter  place 
to  this  city,  where  they  have  since  resided. 

Mrs.  Harper's  life  was  an  intellectual  and  a  helpful 
one.  She  contributed  to  the  Capital,  Washington,  D.  C, 
to  the  Lily,  the  Revolution  and  other  temperance  papers. 
She  was  the  author  of  some  very  fine  poems,  one  of  which 
was  relative  to  the  assassination  of  President  Lincoln. 

Her  death  was  caused  by  a  fall  received  Sept.  5  on  East 
Main  street.  On  the  following  day  her  right  side  became 
paralyzed,  and  on  Friday  morning,  Oct.  4,  her  left  side 
became  helpless. 


IN    MEMORY 

Of   Mrs.  Laura   Terrell   Harper,   wife   of   the   veteran 
reformer,  Col.  Jesse  Harper,  of  Danville,  111.: 

They  alone  live  who  love, 

And  work  best  deeds ;    • 
Their  thought  all  pelf  above 

And  jarring  creeds. 

Who  holds  the  common  heart 

Of  all  the  race ; 
A  sacred  thing  apart, 

In  holy  place ; 

And  seeks  no  power  or  gain 

That  will  not  bless, 
And  make  toil,  tears  and  pain 

Forever  less; 


1 8  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

Has  found  the  key  of  life, 

The  gate  of  peace ; 
The  glory  wherein  strife 

And  discord  cease. 

And  such  a  one  was  she 

Through  her  long  life, 
Of  loving  ministry 

As  Maid  and  Wife. 

Dead?    No.    She  rests,  her  bed, 

Hearts  warm  and  true ; 
On  which  her  presence  shed 

Sunshine  and  dew ! 

Gone  ?    No.    Her  words  and  ways, 

Became  a  part, 
Of  others'  lives  and  days, 

Their  very  heart. 

Thus  in  the  warp  and  woof 

Of  lives  she  blessed ; 
Beneath,  beyond  her  roof 

Her  sweet  home  nest ; 

She  still  lives  on,  a  form 

That  can  not  die, 
Unharmed,  undimmed  of  storm 

And  clouded  sky ; 

A  presence  warm,  sweet,  bright, 

From  blemish  freed ; 
To  inner  touch  and  sight, 

Herself  indeed. 

REV.  W.  B.  GALLAHER. 


A  C.  BARTON 


THIS    SECOND     DIVISION    OF    THE    BOOK    CONTAINS 
TESTIMONY    LETTERS. 


ALEXANDER    C.    BARTON, 

AUTHOR  OF  THIS  BOOK. 

The  first  inspiration  that  I  had  to  write  the  life  of  Mr. 
Harper  was  on  a  beautiful  August  day  in  1884,  after  Mr. 
Harper  was  nominated  as  a  candidate  for  governor  of 
Illinois.  I  was  living  in  East  Lynn,  111.  I  went  to  Dan- 
ville and  while  there  called  at  the  home  of  Mr.  Harper. 
He  was  away,  speaking,  and  while  there  a  newspaper 
man  came  to  get  some  information  from  Mr.  Harper  for 
a  biographical  sketch  of  him,  but  he  left  without  getting 
any  information. 

Mrs.  Harper  said  to  me:  "I  am  bothered  a  good  deal 
by  newspaper  men  asking  for  a  sketch  of  Mr.  Harper 
for  the  papers.  I  have  not  given  them  anything,  and 
Jesse  won't." 

Mrs.  Harper  then  said:  "I  would  rather  for  you  to 
write  up  a  history  of  Mr.  Harper  than  any  other  man  I 
know  of.  If  you  wish  to  I  will  get  you  some  papers  and 
give  you  his  history  from  boyhood  till  you  became  ac- 
qainted  with  him,  and  you  can  give  a  sketch  of  it  to  the 
papers.  Then  at  some  future  time  you  can  write  up 
something  more." 

I  said:  "All  right.  I  will  be  glad  to  do  so."  Hence 
I  have  had  this  on  my  mind  for  a  good  many  years,  and 
have  often  thought  that  if  I  survived  him  that  I  would 
carry  out  Mrs.  Harper's  request  and  write  up  a  memorial 
of  Mr.  Harper,  so  that  his  friends  could  secure  one  to 
have  in  their  homes. 

Through  this  book  the  influence  of  Mr.  Harper  will 
inspire  thousands  of  young  men  of  the  future  generations 
to  high  and  lofty  principles,  to  a  pure  and  true  man- 


20  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

hood,  and  to  press  on  for  the  right  and  a  love  for  God, 
country,  home  and  humanity. 

And  to  those  who  co-labored  with  him  in  the  past  that 
he  so  earnestly  labored  for,  and  the  thousands  who  have 
heard  and  seen  him,  this  book  will  inspire  them  with 
new  hope  and  enthusiasm  for  the  principles  that  he  so 
faithfully  contended  for. 

His  integrity  and  moral  character  were  unimpeach- 
able. Strictly  temperate  in  all  his  habits,  plain  and  un- 
assuming in  his  personal  address,  and  in  all  respects  most 
emphatically  a  man  of  the  people  and  for  the  people,  he 
was  a  true  and  tried  friend  of  laboring  men,  and  at  all 
times  has  been  found  the  eloquent  advocate  of  human 
rights  and  the  elevation  of  the  human  race. 

My  first  recollection  of  the  Colonel  was  in  1875.  I 
was  chosen  to  sit  on  a  jury  here  in  Danville.  He  and 
the  Hon.  J.  B.  Man  had  a  very  hard,  complicated  case  in 
court.  After  the  evidence  was  all  in  the  two  champions 
of  law  had  the  case  in  their  hands  for  the  finishing  touch. 
They  both  showed  their  great  ability  as  lawyers.  Mr. 
Harper  had  rather  the  best  of  it  on  account  of  his  great 
oratorical  ability,  which  he  displayed  in  a  wonderful  mag- 
netic power. 

The  court,  the  jury  and  the  audience  gave  him  very 
close  attention  while  he  was  addressing  the  jury. 

As  a  lawyer  Mr.  Harper  was  bold,  honorable  and  can- 
did, clear  in  his  statements  and  powerful  in  argument, 
kind  to  the  bench  and  jolly  to  the  bar,  and  the  attorneys 
would  always  be  on  hand  when  Mr.  Harper's  turn  came 
to  address  the  jury.  He  always  came  with  keen  and 
very  strong  points  on  his  case. 

His  humor  was  irrepressible  and  trenchant,  and  he 
cut  like  a  Damascus  blade,  and  it  was  very  lucky  for  a 
lawyer  to  go  through  an  argument  in  a  case  with  him 
without  being  laughed  at  before  the  case  was  finished. 
He  was  quick  and  witty,  and  his  retorts  were  sometimes 
scathing,  but  had  no  malice.  Often  the  sting  was  felt, 
but  left  no  pain,  for  his  rich  vein  of  humor  never  failed 
to  give  an  inexhaustible  fund  of  opposite  and  amusing 
anecdote,  always  illustrative  and  most  happily  admired, 
which  brought  joy  to  the  audience  and  was  instructive 
to  his  associates. 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  21 

Mr.  Harper  was  well  posted  in  the  history  both  of  this 
country  and  of  foreign  countries,  as  to  their  antiquity, 
their  productions,  their  prosperities  and  their  adversities, 
their  power  and  their  weaknesses. 

He  wrote  many  pamphlets  concerning  the  people,  >of 
their  condition  and  environments,  and  oppression  in  the 
old  country,  and  had  a  knowledge  of  the  islands  and  their 
people,  and  general  conditions. 

Mr.  Harper's  knowledge  of  the  geography  and  history 
of  this  country  seemed  to  be  as  familiar  to  him  as  was 
the  county  in  which  he  lived.  I  have  frequently  asked 
him  about  the  soil  and  the  production  and  the  general 
surroundings.  He  always  gave  me  all  the  information  I 
wished  to  know,  and  in  some  inquiries  I  have  written 
to  men  in  certain  localities  of  several  counties  in  different 
states,  and  their  answers  were  the  same  as  Mr.  Harper 
gave  me.  These  facts  proved  to  me  that  he  had  the  most 
wonderful  knowledge  upon  any  question  that  could  have 
been  thought  of,  and  the  most  ready  to  tell  it  than  any 
man  I  have  ever  seen  or  read  of.  Indeed  he  was  a 
great  teacher  of  teachers  upon  any  question.  He  had  a 
wide  knowledge  from  his  extensive  travels,  and  was  well 
versed  in  history  and  standard  literature,  as  he  had  in 
his  great  library  many  quaint  and  real  old  books.  Some 
of  them  were  three  and  a  quarter  centuries  old.  He  had 
a  library  of  over  three  thousand  volumes,  and  from  book 
and  pencil  marks  in  the  books  they  showed  that  he  was  a 
constant  reader  of  them. 

He  was  a  very  diligent  and  conscientious  student  of 
his  books,  which  he  loved,  retaining  forever  any  mastery 
he  had  once  acquired  over  them,  from  the  fact  of  his  great 
memory.  Of  what  he  had  read,  seen  and  gathered  from 
his  own  observations  he  had  cut  and  framed  together 
from  his  own  deliberate  reflections,  sweetened  with  the 
perfumes  of  the  forest  and  the  lilies  of  the  valley  and  the 
rose  of  Sharon. 

While  he  had  great  ability  and  much  knowledge  stored 
up  in  his  mind,  he  said  to  me  that  he  had  frequently 
gathered  some  of  his  brightest  thoughts  from  the  hum- 
blest of  men  that  he  had  ever  thought  of.  On  one  occa- 
sion, while  he  was  delivering  a  speech,  a  member  of 


22  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

the  audience  tried  to  bother  him  by  asking  him  some 
foolish  questions  and  disputing  what  Mr.  Harper  had 
said.  I  remember  the  cutting  reply  Mr.  Harper  made 
to  him.  He  said:  "My  friend,  there  are  stores  of 
knowledge  for  me  to  learn ;  but  from  your  questions  the 
things  you  don't  know,  it  would  take  the  largest  book 
in  the  world  to  contain  it,  and  what  you  do  know  could 
be  written  on  your  thumb  nail." 

I  well  remember  the  first  political  speech  I  ever  heard 
Mr.  Harper  make,  in  September,  1876,  at  Rossville,  Til. 
The  meeting  was  held  in  Gilbert's  Grove.  A  large  crowd 
had  gathered  to  hear  the  greenback  apostle.  Capt.  George 
May  delivered  a  rousing  speech  for  thirty  minutes.  Then 
he  introduced  Mr.  Harper.  He  delivered  a  telling  speech 
for  two  hours,  and  many  converts  were  added  to  the  new 
party.  I  was  one  of  the  many  that  were  converted  to  the 
greenback  principles.  I  have  stuck  to  those  principles  side 
by  side  with  Mr.  Harper.  I'  have  always  regarded  Mr. 
Harper  as  the  truest  reformer  this  country  has  ever  pro- 
duced. He  never  changed  his  principles  one  farthing.  He 
advocated  the  same  political  principles  and  policies  year 
in  and  year  out.  He  stuck  to  the  same  cardinal  policies 
up  to  his  death. 

Three  weeks  before  his  death  I  called  to  see  him,  as 
I  often  did.  I  said :  "Mr.  Harper,  I  wish  you  were  able 
to  go  with  me  to  the  Louisville  Populist  Convention 
next  week."  He  said,  in  his  feeble  voice:  "Mr.  Barton, 
you  go  and  stand  for  the  principles  we  have  long  fought 
for.  I  am  done  with  earthly  things.  I  have  fought  a 
good  fight.  I  have  done  my  best  to  warn  the  people. 
Go  on  in  the  good  fight,  for  we  are  right.  Nearly  all  of 
the  unions  and  labor  organizations  got  their  principles 
from  the  Peoples  party.  You  and  I  and  many  others 
have  been  teachers  through  the  press,  and  from  the  ros- 
trum. You  will  meet  many  of  my  old  friends  at  Louis- 
ville. Stand  true  to  the  Peoples  party." 

To  me  these  were  grand  and  sublime  words,  and  in- 
spired me  to  press  on  with  greater  earnestness  than  ever 
for  the  principles  he  so  long  contended  for. 

I  went  to  Louisville  and,  sure  enough,  as  I  entered  into 
the  hotel  at  the  headquarters  I  met  several  delegates  with 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  23 

whom  I  had  met  in  conventions  before,  and  the  first 
question  asked  was :  "Tell  me  what  about  Mr.  Harper." 
Some  would  say,  "Uncle  Jesse  Harper,"  and  some 
"Colonel  Harper,"  and  others  "my  dear  friend,  Mr. 
Harper."  "Haven't  heard  from  him  for  a  long  time." 
I  should  say  that  at  least  fifty  men  asked  me  personally 
about  Mr.  Harper,  and  many  others  who  were  anxious 
to  hear  from  him  stood  by  while  I  was  answering  the 
inquiring  ones,  and  I  went  up  to  the  second  floor  to  meet 
the  Illinois  delegation.  As  I  stepped  into  the  large  hall 
I  met  the  noted  lady  orator  of  the  nation,  Mrs.  Marion 
Todd,  of  Michigan.  She  said:  "I  am  glad  to  meet  you 
here.  What  has  become  of  my  dear  old  friend,  Jesse 
Harper?"  I  said  to  her:  "Sister  Todd,  I  am  sorry  to 
inform  you  that  he  is  now  on  his  deathbed,  and  I  may 
receive  a  telegram  at  any  moment  of  his  death."  She  said, 
"Is  it  possible?"  and  the  tears  trickled  down  her  face  in 
sadness  and  love  for  the  great  reformer.  During  the  con- 
vention I  was  granted  permission  on  the  floor  to  speak 
in  honor  of  Mr.  Harper.  The  convention  was  as  still  as 
death  while  I  was  speaking  of  the  characteristics  of  the 
noble  hero  of  humanity  and  of  his  illness.  I  moved  that 
the  chairman  appoint  a  committee  of  three  to  draft  a 
resolution  of  condolence  to  his  friends  in  honor  of  Mr. 
Harper.  That  committee  was  myself,  Mrs.  Marion  Todd 
and  Mr.  Hillis.  These  resolutions  will  appear  in  another 
place  in  this  book. 

I  attended  many  conventions  and  conferences  with  Mr. 
Harper.  He  was  the  most  popular  man  I  ever  saw  in  a 
convention.  I  have  gone  with  him  on  different  times. 
As  we  entered  the  door  at  the  headquarters  where  several 
hundred  delegates  had  gathered  they  would  meet  him 
at  the  door.  He  would  crowd  his  way  in  and  set  his  big 
grip  on  the  floor,  and  shake  hands  and  talk  for  an  hour 
before  he  would  stop.  Everybody  knew  him,  and  he 
knew  them.  I  have  seen  times  in  conventions  when  it 
would  become  very  noisy  with  great  excitement  and 
general  confusion.  At  such  times  I  have  seen  Mr. 
Harper  rise  from  his  place  and  quietly  walk  to  the  front 
with  a  pleasant  smile  upon  his  face,  and  with  his  short, 
characteristic,  witty  speech  the  whole  convention  would 


24  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

be  in  a  jolly  laughter,  and  perfect  harmony  would  be 
restored.  Such  was  the  magnetic  power  of  Mr.  Harper. 
There  are  but  few  men  who  possess  such  power.  He 
was  a  man  that  never  got  excited.  Gen.  James  B. 
Weaver,  of  Iowa,  after  hearing  Mr.  Harper  speak  for 
three  hours  at  St.  Louis,  said:  "Mr.  Harper,  you  will 
kill  yourself  speaking  so  hard  and  long  as  you  do." 

AT  EAST  LYNN,  ILL. 

I  had  secured  Mr.  Harper  for  three  lectures,  for  the 
i6th,  I7th  and  i8th  of  February,  1878.  I  shall  never 
forget  that  occasion,  for  the  whole  country  compared 
favorably  to  the  glaciers  of  Greenland  or  the  icy  peaks 
of  Iceland.  The  whole  earth  for  many  miles  was  im- 
mersed in  a  deluge  of  ice. 

The  train  that  Mr.  Harper  came  on  was  two  hours 
late.  A  committee  of  three — W.  H.  Gardner,  L.  N. 
Caldwell  and  myself — met  him  at  the  train  and  escorted 
him  to  my  residence,  where  he  was  entertained  during 
his  stay. 

On  Saturday  night  he  spoke  in  the  Methodist  Church 
on  "The  Evils  of  Intemperance."  It  was  a  masterly 
argument.  Mr.  Harper  was  well  known  throughout  the 
whole  country  as  a  great  temperance  orator,  and  on  Sun- 
day morning  the  preacher  failed  to  get  there.  I  said  to 
the  Sunday  school  superintendent  to  ask  Mr.  Harper 
to  address  the  congregation.  Mr.  Harper  accepted  the 
invitation.  He  spoke  of  Ishmael  and  Isaac,  a  portion  of 
which  will  be  found  in  another  place  in  this  book.  It 
was  a  very  interesting  lecture  and  very  highly  appreci- 
ated by  the  audience.  At  night  he  spoke  on  "The  Sym- 
bols of  the  Bible."  This  was  a  very  high-toned  Bible 
lecture. 

On  Monday  night  he  gave  a  speech  on  "The  Bond 
Question."  Mr.  Harper  was  very  much  opposed  to  the 
government  refunding  or  issuing  bonds  when  the  gov- 
ernment could  issue  the  money  and  pay  the  cash.  He 
said  that  a  man  would  be  very  foolish  to  give  his  note 
for  a  thousand  dollars  and  at  the  same  time  have  $1,000 
at  his  command  he  could  have  used.  "Again,"  he  said, 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  25 

"suppose  that  one  of  you  had  $1,000  and  would  loan  me 
$900  for  a  term  of  years,  and  you  would  pay  me  four  and 
a  half  per  cent  interest  on  the  $1,000.  That  is  exactly 
what  the  government  is  doing  for  the  national  banks." 

Mr.  Harper  often  related  to  me  his  experiences  as  he 
traveled  over  the  country,  and  he  had  some  very  close 
calls  for  his  life.  I  remember  one  with  a  cyclone.  In 
1885  I  engaged  him  to  speak  at  Hoopeston,  111.,  about 
fourteen  miles  north  of  Danville,  his  home.  Just  as  the 
train  passed  out  of  Alvin,  a  small  town,  passing  through 
a  strip  of  timber,  the  engineer  saw  a  huge  cyclone  to 
the  west  of  them,  and  it  looked  as  though  it  were  coming 
toward  them.  He  stopped  his  train  to  take  advice  from 
the  conductor.  The  passengers  were  much  excited.  As 
Mr.  Harper  had  seen  several  cyclones,  he  said  to  the 
engineer:  "Unless  it  changes  its  course  you  can  run 
ahead  of  it.  Pull  out  the  throttle  and  go  with  all  speed." 
They  boarded  the  train  and  they  ran  a  mile  a  minute,  and 
ran  ahead  of  it  about  two  hundred  yards.  They  stopped 
at  Rossville,  and  chunks  of  ice  fell  that  weighed  five 
pounds.  This  was  a  very  destructive  cyclone.  I  saw 
where  it  passed  over  the  country,  sweeping  everything 
before  it. 

IN  A  BLIZZARD. 

The  winter  of  1880  Mr.  Harper  was  engaged  to  speak 
in  Wisconsin  and  South  Dakota.  The  train  ran  into  a 
snowdrift  fifteen  feet  deep  and  the  snow  filled  in  behind 
them.  They  were  two  days  there  before  they  got  out. 
Every  man  on  the  train  would  take  his  turn  shoveling 
snow.  The  conductor  got  some  farmers  to  haul  pro- 
visions and  fuel  from  a  town  five  miles  away. 

In  1878  Mr.  Harper  was  nominated  as  a  candidate  for 
congress  by  the  "greenbackers."  At  that  time  Mr. 
Harper  was  in  Maine,  speaking  for  General  Plasted, 
who  was  running  for  governor  on  the  green- 
back ticket,  and  was  elected.  Mr.  Harper  re- 
turned home  in  time  to  make  six  speeches  in 
his  own  district.  His  first  speech  was  at  Fairmount, 
111.  I  was  told  by  a  prominent  citizen  of  that  town 
that  Mr.  Harper  said:  "It  would  be  of  great  pleasure 


26  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

to  me  to  meet  my  opponent  and  divide  time  with  him  for 
the  next  five  days."  The  next  day  his  opponent  was  seen 
by  a  friend  of  his,  and  he  told  him  what  Mr.  Harper 
said.  "Will  you  meet  him?"  he  was  asked.  The  candi- 
date replied  :  "No,  sir.  My  God  !  You  don't  know  Mr. 
Harper  as  well  as  I  do.  I  would  just  as  soon  run  in  con- 
tact with  a  buzzsaw  as  to  debate  with  Mr.  Harper." 
There  is  no  question  but  that  Mr.  Harper  would  have 
been  a  hard  man  for  an  opponent  to  have  met.  He  once 
challenged  Robert  G.  Ingersoll  on  his  lecture,  "The  Mis- 
takes of  Moses."  Mr.  Ingersoll  said  :  "Mr.  Harper,  you 
know  too  much  about  Moses."  Mr.  Ingersoll  was  well 
acquainted  with  Mr.  Harper  as  a  man  of  great  ability. 


MR.  BARTON.  DEAR  SIR  :  —  You  ask  me  to  say  a  word 
concerning  the  late  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  It  was  not  my 
pleasure  to  know  Colonel  Harper  in  his  prime.  His  life 
was  well  spent  before  I  was  attracted  to  his  work  or  to 
those  economic  questions  to  which  he  was  devoted. 

I  knew  him  in  his  later  years,  and  the  association  is  a 
pleasant  memory.  His  power  as  a  speaker  and  writer  is 
thoroughly  known  among  those  who  demand  political 
justice. 

While  it  is  fitting  to  pay  tribute  to  his  memory,  yet 
nothing  can  be  said  to  add  luster  to  his  career.  Colonel 
Harper  speaks  from  the  tomb  and  tells  his  own  story. 
He  has  written  his  own  epitaph  in  his  many  battles  fought 
for  the  right  against  the  wrong.  He  has  reared  a  monu- 
ment in  the  hearts  of  his  liberty-loving  countrymen,  and 
one  which  will  remain  when  marble  monuments  shall 
have  crumbled  into  dust. 

He  planted  the  good  seed,  and  though  it  may  take 
years  to  fully  ripen,  it  will  not  rot  in  the  soil,  but  bear 
fruit  in  time. 

The  planting  of  righteous  thoughts  never  fail  to  yield 
a  crop.  They  withstand  both  flood  and  flame.  A  harvest 
is  as  sure  as  eternity.  Good  will  is  life  everlasting.  When 
all  else  perishes,  it  alone  survives. 


MRS.  MARION  TODD 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  27 

"By  its  good  or  evil  each  life  is  weighed; 
In  motives  and  deeds  is  its  record  made ; 
In  the  coin  ye  pay  ye  shall  be  repaid 
When  your  wages  at  last  fall  due." 

(MRS.)  MARION  TODD. 


Mr.  Orrin  Harper,  of  Danville,  111.,  cousin  of  Jesse 
Harper,  furnishes  the  following  interesting  incidents  of 
Colonel  Harper's  life: 

As  to  Colonel  Harper's  mechanical  skill,  an  incident 
that  happened  in  1851  will  show  the  reader  his  ability  in 
that  line:  A  large  warehouse  was  to  be  built  for  Kent 
&  Kitchens  at  Williamsport,  Ind.,  and  the  Colonel  and 
his  brother-in-law,  A.  S.  Foster,  bid  on  the  job,  and, 
their  bid  being  the  most  desirable  in  the  eyes  of  Messrs. 
Kent  &  Hitchens,  the  contract  was  awarded  to  them. 
As  soon  as  this  was  learned  by  other  contractors  a  great 
howl  was  set  up  that  the  firm  of  Harper  &  Foster  were 
inexperienced  men,  that  they  were  not  competent  to  do 
the  work,  which  was  to  be  of  the  most  substantial  kind 
of  heavy  framing;  that  they  were  not  equipped  in  any 
way  to  do  such  massive  construction.  These  loud  rav- 
ings got  to  the  ears  of  Kent  &  Hitchens,  and  they  began 
to  inquire  of  other  parties,  and  even  went  to  Harper  & 
Foster  and  told  them  that  they  had  fears  of  their  ability 
to  carry  out  the  contract.  This  at  once  aroused  the 
energy  of  Colonel  Harper,  who  told  them  that  he  would 
make  a  model  of  the  frame,  showing  every  sill,  post, 
beam,  girder  plate  and  brace  that  went  into  the  immense 
three-story  structure,  so  that  they  could  see  the  entire 
structure  in  miniature.  He  was  told  to  do  so  by  the 
builders,  and  if  he  succeeded  in  doing  as  he  agreed  it 
would  convince  them  that  the  firm  of  Harper  &  Foster 
could  build  the  warehouse.  Colonel  Harper  went  to  work 
at  once  and  soon  had  the  model  completed,  and  it  was  so 
perfect  and  true  to  the  plans  and  specifications  that  they 
were  told  to  go  ahead  with  the  work.  The  great  building 
was  pushed  to  a  rapid  completion,  and  it  proved  to  be 
perfect  in  every  particular,  and  one  of  the  best  buildings 
of  its  kind  in  the  state.  After  this  building  was  com- 


28  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

pleted  the  firm  of  Harper  &  Foster  had  no  trouble  to  get 
all  the  work  they  could  do.  Their  services  were  sought 
far  and  near  in  the  construction  of  heavy  framing  jobs. 

As  to  his  kindness  of  heart  and  showing  that  he  be- 
lieved in  the  "brotherhood  of  man,"  I  will  relate  an  inci- 
dent that  happened  a  few  years  later  when  he  was  a  law- 
yer, in  partnership  with  Hon.  B.  F.  Gregory : 

A  certain  county  officer  who  was  retiring  after  his 
term  had  expired,  found  that  by  his  accommodating  ac- 
tions to  friends,  that  he  was  short  in  his  accounts,  and 
that  it  took  several  thousand  dollars  to  settle  with  the 
Board  of  County  Commissioners.  His  bondsmen  would 
not  come  to  his  assistance,  but  wanted  the  law  to  take  its 
course,  which  in  that  state  meant  the  penitentiary  for 
any  shortage  in  public  funds.  The  retiring  officer  ap- 
pealed to  his  Masonic  brethren,  some  of  whom  were  on 
his  bond,  to  help  him,  but  they  refused.  His  office  was 
adjoining  that  of  Gregory  &  Harper,  and  one  day  just 
before  the  settlement  was  to  be  made,  he  told  his  troubles 
to  Colonel  Harper  and  asked  his  advice  in  the  matter. 
Colonel  Harper  thought  a  few  moments,  then  asked  the 
delinquent  a  question  or  two  as  to  his  property,  real  and 
personal,  and  then  told  the  now  thoroughly  alarmed 
officer  that  he  thought  he  could  help  him  out  of  his 
trouble.  So  the  next  morning,  at  a  little  before  5  o'clock, 
Colonel  Harper  boarded  the  Wabash  train  and  went  to 
Lafayette,  where  he  secured  the  money  to  square  the 
accounts  of  the  retiring  officer,  and  returned  with  it 
the  same  day,  thus  saving  a  fellow-man  from  punishment 
and  disgrace,  for  being  too  good  hearted  and  not  trans- 
acting public  business  on  sound  business  principles. 

O.  E.  H. 


NASHUA,  Iowa,  March  7,  1903. 
A.  C.  Barton,  Esq.,  Danville,  Illinois. 

VALIANT  SIR  AND  BROTHER  :  Your  esteemed  letter  of 
recent  date,  requesting  me  to  write  at  least  a  few  lines 
of  reminiscence  of  the  life  work  of  the  late  Col.  Jesse 
Harper,  which  came  under  my  personal  observation, 
for  your  biographical  book,  is  before  me. 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  29 

I  first  became  personally  acquainted  with  Colonel 
Harper  about  the  year  1878,  at  Des  Moines,  Iowa.  It 
was  at  the  time  of  a  state  convention,  which  was  called 
in  line  with  the  so-called  Peter  Cooper  Greenback  move- 
ment, having  fresh  in  mind  the  wicked  monetary  crime 
of  1873.  The  writer  hereof  chanced  at  that  time  to  be 
chairman  of  the  State  Central  Committee  which  issued 
the  call,  and  as  such  chairman  was  quite  proud  of  the 
honor,  and  very  enthusiastic  in  the  work ;  and  in  harmony 
therewith,  secured  Moor's  Opera  House,  for  the  conven- 
tion, which  was  filled,  so  to  speak,  from  cellar  to  garret, 
with  a  multitude  of  earnest  men  and  women;  in  part, 
because  we  had  secured  the  presence  of  Col.  Jesse 
Harper,  Dr.  De  La  Matyr,  J.  B.  Weaver,  E.  H.  Gillette, 
and  several  other  eminent  speakers,  to  address  the  con- 
vention. 

Able  speeches  were  made  by  able  speakers,  but  the 
speech  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper  wrought  the  entire  large 
audience  to  a  fever  of  frenzy,  as  he  portrayed  the  re- 
morseless work  of  the  money  changers  from  the  days 
that  Judas  betrayed  Jesus  for  thirty  pieces  of  silver,  to 
the  very  year  in  which  he  was  then  speaking. 

He  stated  his  premises  with  clear,  logical  accuracy, 
as  he  would  state  a  case  of  supreme  importance  in  a 
court  of  high  record  jurisdiction,  and  then  with  the  same 
logical  accuracy  he  introduced  his  testimony  and  anchored 
the  same  conclusively  with  the  highest  and  undisputed 
authority,  and  then  followed  with  eloquent  periods  of 
oratory  in  denunciation  of  the  awful  crimes  that  had  been 
committed,  that  were  then  being  committed,  and  that 
would  continue  to  be  committed,  with  greed  of  gold  as 
the  shibbolith  of  the  business  world,  unless  the  people — 
the  power  behind  the  throne — yea — said  the  speaker, — 
the  very  throne  itself, — shall  awake  at  once  and  unite 
courageously  and  wisely  to  hurl  the  monstrous  sin  of  the 
ages — greed  of  gold — from  its  unrighteous  throne  of 
wicked  powers. 

The  effect  of  that  speech  upon  the  audience  was  mar- 
velous. Unity  of  thought,  purpose  and  deed,  followed, 
as  day  comes  from  the  night,  and  a  full  state  ticket,  upon 


30  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

a  clean  straight  forward  platform,  was  made  and  pre- 
sented to  the  people  of  our  state,  coupled  with  an  un- 
swerving determination  to  capture  the  state. 

It  is  firmly  believed  by  many  yet  living,  who  were 
members  of  that  convention,  or  in  open  affiliation  with 
its  work,  that  such  would  have  been  the  result,  but  that 
"FUSION"  with  the  State  Democratic  Party  became  an 
accomplished  fact  a  few  days  before  the  morning  of 
election,  news  of  which  accomplished  fact  was  hurled 
pell  mell  through  the  state  and  drove  thousands  of 
earnest,  intelligent,  honest,  God-worshipping  and  hu- 
manity-loving Republicans  back  into  the  party  of  their 
choice  in  the  days  of  its  purity  of  purposes  and  acts. 

Col.  Jesse  Harper  in  that  speech  touched  the  living 
pulse  and  heart  of  the  people  present  with  his  invincible 
array  of  facts,  his  masterly  logic  of  argument,  and  his 
burning  words  of  eloquent  denunciation  of  the  greed  for 
gold  which  had  so  ofttimes  destroyed  nations  and  the 
liberties  of  the  world. 

He  then  so  vividly  portrayed  the  disasters  that  had 
come  upon  the  peoples  of  the  world  in  past  historical 
periods  by  reason  of  "Man's  inhumanity  to  man,"  that 
solid  alarm  took  possession  of  the  audience. 

Col.  Jesse  Harper  was  not  only  a  ripe  scholar  in  the 
history  of  the  past,  but  the  wisdom  of  the  prophet  was 
a  clear  part  of  his  great  attainments.  He  was  also  gen- 
erous and  wholly  devoted. 

In  1885  he  wrote  to  me  a  letter,  a  part  of  which  I  quote : 

"Brother  Weller:  I  send  by  express,  as  a  donation 
to  you  and  your  paper,  a  large  lot  of  my  published 
works  on  money,  usury  and  gold,  to  help  you  in  your 
noble  work  in  the  cause  of  humanity,  that  you  are,  with 
others,  giving  the  best  efforts  of  your  life  to  help  con- 
summate. I  am  donating  all  my  time,  and  much  prop- 
erty, to  the  cause  of  God  and  humanity. 

"(Signed.)  J.  HARPER." 

Almost  ten  years  after  that  memorable  convention, 
Colonel  Harper  wrote  to  me  the  following  letter,  which 
we  have  even  unto  this  day  regarded  as  a  prophecy.  I 
copy  it  accurately: 


L.  H.  WELLER 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  31 

"DANVILLE,  111.,  May  18,  1888. 
Hon.  L.  H.  Weller,  Editor  Advocate: 

"It  is  here — 'Trouble  of  the  Nations.'  The  re-map- 
ping of  the  world  is  now  on.  The  heated  plowshare  of, 
Angloism  is  now  turning  up  the  face  of  'Mother  Earth/ 
over  which  Isis  has  sown  tares  for  forty  hundred  years. 
The  earth,  sociological,  politico-religious,  reels  like  a 
drunken  man.  And  the  physical  is  setting,  as  it  presents 
to  our  view,  'the  hidden  wealth  stored  within.'  The 
decadence  of  the  old  is  patent  to  our  eye,  as  the  train  of 
cars  is  new,  when  contrasted  with  the  'Waggon  Boy  of 
the  Alleganies.'  That  Boy  represented  a  day  now  past; 
a  day  when  these  Jehus  'drove  their  teams  six  in  hand' 
as  lordly  as  the  'locomotive  driver'  now  speeds  his  'iron 
horse'  over  five  score  miles  an  hour. 

"Yes,  the  old  is  passing,  and  the  new  coming.  That 
Greek  epic  rings  through  the  habitable  globe  as  never 
since  the  morning  stars  sang  together — listen:  'Behold 
I  make  all  things  new.'  All  flesh  are  stretching  forth, 
heart  and  hand,  to  catch  the  first  sight  of  this  coming 
re-genesis.  And  the  sheen  of  the  no  distant  panorama 
is  dim  as  seen  now;  still  we  reach  to  the  mighty  incog- 
nita. 

"The  continents  are  rousing  like  the  lion  from  his  lair, 
ready  to  welcome  the  new. 

"Angloism  and  Islamism  stand  the  gladiators  at  the 
going  out  of  the  iQth  century. 

"The  one,  a  ruddy  David,  with  a  sling  and  the  pebble 
of  truth;  the  other,  the  dotard  Goliath,  clad  in  armor, 
burnished  with  a  lie. 

"The  great  empires  are  being  furnished  the  leaves  from 
the  tree  of  liberty,  for  their  healing,  and  the  Islands  are 
waiting  for  his  law. 

"The  war  cry  of  Eohim  is  heard:  'He  shall  judge 
among  the  nations,  and  rebuke  many  people.' 

"War's  turgid  scourge  sweeps  away  the  slimy  cover- 
ing of  oppression,  spread  over  all  nations. 

"The  scalpel  of  humanity  is  scraping  like  a  potsherd 
scrapes  his  fellow.  And  the  islands  are  being  moved 
out  of  their  peace — politically,  socially,  religiously,  and 


32  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

the  day-star,  new  dipped  in  blood,  is  rising  with  healing 
in  his  wings. 

"Monarchy  sees  its  sunset ;  despotism,  like  the  wounded 
serpent,  is  strengthening  for  its  final  blow  at  justice — 
a  bloiv  of  cruelty. 

"It  is  the  overflow  period.  We  are  in  the  mesh  of  the 
Divine  malediction  that  has  rung  along  the  Appian  way 
for  twenty-five  centuries — 'I  will  overturn — overturn — 
overturn,  till  he  comes  whose  right  it  is.' 

"Let  the  RIGHT,  a  persono  come — 

"  'For  right  is  right,  as  God  is  sight — 

To  doubt  it  would  be  sin.' 
"Let  the  English  speaking  people  become  the 
KINGDOM  OF  STONE — SOVEREIGNTY  OF  THE  PEOPLES. 
(Signed)  "J.  HARPER/' 

From  the  day  of  that  convention  to  the  present  I 
have  regarded  Colonel  Harper  as  one  of  the  ablest  advo- 
cates in  the  field  of  general  as  well  as  special  reforms 
essential  to  the  welfare  of  the  human,  then,  now,  and 
henceforth. 

Your  forthcoming  Book  of  Biography  relating  to  Col- 
onel Harper  should  be  in  the  hands  of  thousands  of  read- 
ers as  an  inspiration  along  the  lines  he  so  prophetically 
and  clearly  marked  out.  You  can  rely  on  my  best  efforts 
to  assist  you.  Sincerely  yours, 

L.  H.  WELLER. 

Ex-Congressman  L.  H.  Weller,  the  writer  of  the  fore- 
going reminiscence,  was  born  in  Connecticut  in  1833,  an^ 
was  reared  politically  as  a  Democrat  of  the  Jefferson  and 
Jackson  school.  His  first  votes  were  Democratic.  The 
contest  between  the  North  and  South — a  possibly  divided 
government  on  the  Mason  and  Dixon  line — that  was 
waged  in  1856,  moved  him  to  support  the  candidacy  of 
Fremont  and  Freedom. 

His  next  two  national  votes  were  for  Lincoln  and 
Liberty.  His  next  national  vote  was  for  Grant ;  there- 
after Greely,  and  thereafter  for  the  national  candidates 
of  the  monetary  reform  movement.  In  1878  he  was  the 
nominee  of  the  Peter  Cooper  greenback  element  in  the 
4th  congressional  district  in  Iowa,  at  which  election  Mr. 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  33 

Daring  was  elected  and  Mr.  Allen  the  last  in  the  race, 
and  Mr.  Weller  second  best. 

In  1882  Mr.  Weller  was  the  congressional  nominee  of 
the  National  Greenback  party  in  the  said  4th  district. 
Mr.  Hoagland  was  the  Democratic  nominee,  and  Mr. 
Updegraff  the  Republican  nominee.  Mr.  Weller  was 
elected  by  711  majority. 

In  1884  Mr.  Weller  was  the  nominee  of  the  National 
Greenback  party,  and  Mr.  W.  E.  Fuller  of,the  Republican 
party.  The  Democrats,  at  this  election,  by  their  conven- 
tion, indorsed  the  candidacy  of  Mr.  Weller,  who  was 
defeated  by  230  majority,  although  receiving  nearly  4,000 
more  votes  than  when  elected.  His  view  of  this  defeat 
was,  that  there  had  been  such  rank  differences  between 
the  leaders  of  the  Democratic  party  and  Republican  party 
as  set  forth  by  the  speakers  and  the  publications  of  each, 
that  there  had  come  about  a  fixed,  settled  hatred,  inter- 
woven in  the  very  fiber  of  each,  that  anything  that  the 
label  "Democrat"  was  attached  to,  was  hated  by  the  aver- 
age Republican ;  as  also,  anything  that  the  label  "Repub- 
lican" was  attached  to,  was  hated  by  the  average  Demo- 
crat. 

"JO.  A.  PARKER." 

NAT.   CHAIRMAN  PEOPLE'S  PARTY. 

Hon.  A.C.  Barton  is  in  line  with  the  repeated  utterances 
of  Colonel  Harper,  that  to  do  a  first-class  job  of  sweep- 
ing the  nation  clean  of  the  master  monopolies,  syndicates 
and  trusts,  that  a  brand  new  broom,  dedicated  to  the 
cleanliness  sought  to  be  obtained,  must  be  created,  and 
put  into  the  hands  of  the  earnest  workers  in  the  field  of 
such  reform  before  victory  can  crown  any  efforts. 

The  late  Col.  Jesse  Harper  was  one  of  nature's  noble- 
men, a  patient,  self  sacrificing  worker  in  the  cause  of  the 
common  people.  He  was  ever  true  to  his  fixed  prin- 
ciples. His  death  has  removed  from  our  counsels  one  of 
our  ablest  advisers.  His  memory  should  be  an  inspira- 
tion to  the  young  men  of  our  country  to  serve  more  zeal- 
ously the  cause  of  labor.  Of  him  we  may  well  say, 

"He  was  a  man;  take  him  for  all  in  all,  I  shall  not 
look  upon  his  like  again." 


34  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

PHILADELPHIA,  April  6,  1903. 
A.  C.  Barton,  Esq.,  Danville,  III. 

DEAR  SIR  AND  FRIEND:  I  am  very  glad  indeed  to 
know  that  you  are  getting  out  a  book  giving  a  history  of 
the  life  and  a  careful  selection  from  the  writings  of  that 
noble  friend  of  humanity  and  advocate  of  the  rights  of 
man,  and  especially  of  the  industrial  classes,  Col.  Jesse 
Harper,  the  friend  and  co-worker  of  Abraham  Lincoln. 
He  gave  his  life  and  work  to  the  education  and  helping 
of  his  fellow  men,  sacrificing  his  own  material  welfare  in 
order  to  work  for  the  liberation  of  the  industrial  classes 
from  the  oppression  and  bondage  of  the  British  system 
of  finance  and  of  land  monopoly,  and  from  servitude  to 
the  modern  corporate  feudalism.  Colonel  Harper  was  a 
man  of  unusual  intellect  and  stood  high  as  an  orator.  He 
had  the  courage  of  his  convictions  and  was  able  and 
fearless  in  expressing  them.  He  was  the  friend  of  all 
men,  and  in  his  death  the  'world  sustained  a  real  loss. 

Every  one  of  his  friends,  and  every  reformer,  should 
have  a  copy  of  your  forthcoming  book,  as  they  will 
find  in  it  an  armory  of  facts  and  logic  against  the  op- 
pressors of  the  wealth-producers,  and  will  also  find  in  it 
fresh  inspiration  to  carry  on  the  work  of  fighting  for 
economic  and  industrial  freedom  to  which  Colonel  Har- 
per devoted  his  life. 

I  had  known  him  personally  since  1880.  I  am  sorry 
to  hear  of  his  death.  He  was  a  noble  man,  possessed  of 
unusual  ability,  which  he  used  for  the  education  and 
helping  of  his  fellowmen,  opposing  in  his  later  days  finan- 
cial slavery  as  strongly  and  as  firmly  as  he  opposed  chat- 
tel slavery  in  his  earlier  days.  The  world  needs  more 
such  men. 

It  was  the  Colonel's  custom  when  absent  from  home 
to  send  Mrs.  Harper  by  mail  a  $i  paper  coin  each  and 
every  day  of  his  absence.  Yours  truly, 

DAVITT  D.  CHIDESTER. 

NEW  YORK  CITY,  June  5,  1903. 
Mr.  A.  C.  Barton,  Danville,  III. 

"Uncle  Jesse  Harper,"  as  we  loved  to  call  him,  has 


MRS.  M.  E.  LEASE 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  35 

passed  from  our  mortal  vision  to  where  "beyond  these 
voices  there  is  peace." 

His  life  was  given  to  the  services  of  his  fellow  men. 
Through  good  and  evil  report,  he  labored  to  correct  the 
thinking  of  his  age.  He  came  not  to  Time's  low  counter 
for  his  pay,  but  moved  in  all  the  majesty  of  his  ripened 
years  to  the  judgment  bar  of  God.  He  was  a  preacher 
of  the  gospel  of  Truth.  That  his  words  left  their  im- 
press upon  the  age  is  a  fulfillment  of  prophecy.  The  last 
expression  of  velocity  is  rest,  the  last  expression  of  elo- 
quence is  silence.  Standing  by  our  old  friend's  open 
grave,  glorified  by  the  memories  of  his  fearless,  useful 
life,  the  highest  form  of  liturgy  is  to  be  dumb. 

MARY  ELIZABETH  LEASE. 


Colonel  Jesse  Harper,  the  well  known  orator,  poli- 
tician and  writer,  is  dying  at  the  home  of  his  son,  Aimer 
Harper,  904  North  Gilbert  street.  His  health  has  not 
been  good  for  several  months,  and  his  condition  during 
the  last  few  months  has  been  critical.  His  physician 
says  that  he  cannot  recover,  and  that  his  death  is  but  a 
question  of  a  few  hours. 

For  a  great  many  years  Colonel  Harper  has  enjoyed 
a  national  reputation.  There  is  scarcely  a  state  in  the 
Union  in  which  he  has  not  made  political  speeches.  He 
was  one  of  the  most  eloquent  orators  in  the  country  and 
during  political  campaigns  he  was  in  great  demand.  He 
was  well  known  as  a  Republican  speaker,  but  it  was  his 
advocacy  of  greenback  principles  that  gave  him  fame 
as  an  orator.  He  enjoyed  the  distinction  of  being  the 
ablest  exponent  of  the  greenback  doctrine,  and  in  the 
greenback  national  convention  at  Indianapolis  in  1884, 
he  received  100  votes  for  the  nomination  for  president  of 
the  United  States.  On  the  second  ballot  General  Butler 
was  nominated  by  a  small  majority.  During  that  cam- 
paign Colonel  Harper  canvassed  all  the  states  of  the 
middle  west,  and  drew  large  crowds  wherever  he  went. 
The  announcement  that  Col.  Jesse  Harper,  of  Illinois, 
was  to  speak  was  sufficient  to  fill  the  largest  hall.  Peo- 


36  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

pie  who  did  not  endorse  his  greenback  tenets  were  always 
eager  to  hear  him  because  of  his  oratory.  He  was  for 
many  years  one  of  the  most  popular  speakers  in  this 
country,  and  no  large  gathering  was  considered  complete 
without  Colonel  Harper.  As  a  Fouth  of  July  orator  he 
was  one  of  the  most  popular  in  the  state.  It  has  been 
charged  against  him  that  he  gave  too  much  of  his  time 
to  public  speaking  and  too  little  to  his  own  private  affairs. 

As  a  writer  he  was  equally  entertaining  and  the  books 
that  he  wrote  were  eagerly  read.  He  was  the  author  of 
a  number  of  books  on  political  economy,  the  most  popular 
being  "Millennium  Age,"  and  "Destructive  Influences  of 
Civilization."  He  wrote  much  for  newspapers  and  maga- 
zines. Some  of  the  best  known  men  of  the  Greenback 
party  sought  his  counsel  and  many  of  them  he  entertained 
at  his  beautiful  home  on  the  southwest  corner  of  Gilbert 
and  Fairchild  streets.  He  owned  one  of  the  best  libraries 
in  the  county,  and  in  its  possession  he  took  especial  pride. 

He  spent  his  busy  life  in  an  endeavor  to  better  the 
condition  of  mankind,  to  raise  to  a  higher  plane  the 
masses,  or  the  sons  of  toil,  as  he  called  the  working 
classes.  His  death  will  be  regretted  by  scores  of  people 
all  over  the  country  who  had  a  sincere  regard  for  him 
and  respect  for  his  political  opinions.  There  will  be  but 
one  Jesse  Harper. 

His  first  vote  was  cast  for  Birney  and  Hale  on  the 
Abolition  ticket.  He  voted  for  Fremont  and  Dayton  in 
1856,  the  first  Republican  ticket  that  was  ever  nominated. 
In  1860  he  voted  for  Lincoln  and  Hamlin ;  in  1864  for 
Lincoln  and  Johnson,  and  in  1868  for  Grant  and  Coif  ax. 
Danville  Daily  News,  April  23,  1902. 


FROM  THE  DANVILLE  DAILY  DEMOCRAT. 

"One  of  the  last  of  pioneer  orators.  Death  of  Col. 
Jesse  Harper  at  the  age  of  79.  A  noted  character;  was 
known  to  the  people  of  every  state  in  the  Union ;  was  a 
great  campaigner.  Few  men  were  better  known  to  the 
people  of  this  country  than  Colonel  Harper.  As  a  po- 
litical campaigner  and  Fourth  of  July  orator,  he  had  few 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  37 

equals,  and  made  speeches  in  nearly  every  state  in  the 
Union,  and  was  one  of  the  most  magnetic  men  ever  upon 
the  platform.  He  could  draw  a  large  crowd  and  once 
they  came  to  listen  to  his  eloquence  he  would  hold  them 
until  he  had  spoken  the  last  word. 

"Colonel  Harper  was  a  great  student  of  the  Bible,  and 
no  one  was  more  conversant  with  the  Scriptures  than  he. 
He  has  written  a  great  many  pamphlets  upon  the  Bible 
and  other  subjects,  and  had  a  library  containing  many 
books,  some  of  his  volumes  being  two  and  three  hun- 
dred years  old.  Colonel  Harper  was  known  to  but  a  few 
of  the  younger  generation  in  Danville.  His  duties  as  a 
public  speaker  kept  him  away  from  the  city  weeks  and 
months  at  a  time.  By  these  he  was  greatly  respected  and 
esteemed,  and  had  a  kindly  word  for  all  he  met.  He  was 
a  most  devoted  husband,  and  during  the  lifetime  of  his 
wife  it  was  their  greatest  pleasure  and  comfort  to  be  in 
each  other's  company. 

"There  were  many  who  did  not  agree  with  Colonel 
Harper  politically,  but  they  believed  him  to  be  sincere 
in  his  convictions,  and  they  were  always  pleased  to 
hear  him  speak,  although  they  differed  on  the  great 
economics  of  the  day." 


TIFFIN,  O.,  March  8,  1903. 
A.  C.  Barton. 

MY  DEAR  SIR  :  I  am  glad  to  know  that  the  name  and 
life  work  of  this  moral  hero  and  apostle  of  truth  is  to  be 
handed  down  to  posterity.  Not  alone  as  a  man  of  pro- 
found intellect,  but  of  deep  convictions  and  love  for  hu- 
manity, should  Brother  Harper  be  remembered.  Faith- 
ful among  the  faithless,  he  was  ever  true  to  his  convic- 
tions. His  keen  analysis  of  men  and  measures,  and  the 
philosophy  of  the  rise  and  fall  of  nations  give  to  his 
utterances  the  authority  of  a  prophet  divinely  sent. 
Wishing  you  the  most  abundant  success,  I  am  truly  yours, 

JOHN  SEITZ. 


38  Life  of  CoL  Jesse  Harper. 

HARPER  AS  REV.  W.  B.  GALLAHER  KNEW  HIM 
PERSONALLY. 

From  an  acquaintance  of  some  ten  years  with  Colonel 
Harper  during  his  later  life,  and  from  many  interesting 
and  extended  conversations  I  have  had  with  him  on  great 
social,  religious  and  economic  problems,  I  bear  glad  and 
willing  testimony  to  his  great  learning  and  intense 
earnestness,  to  his  irrepressible  wit  and  humor  joined  to 
deep  and  burning  moral  convictions,  to  his  unselfish,  de- 
voted and  untiring  love  of  the  great  common  people ;  to 
his  childlike  simplicity,  more  lovely  in  its  native  grace 
and  beauty,  than  the  gleam  of  painted  pomp  and  of 
glistening  jewels,  and  to  his  kinglike  moral  and  intel- 
lectual wealth,  daring  and  heroism. 

In  the  speech  of  men  he  lived  and  died  "a  poor"  man. 

In  the  vocabulary  of  Heaven  he  is  written  a  ''billion- 
aire." 

He  piled  up  no  great  material  wealth,  no  heaps  of 
shining  gold  and  silver  stained  with  tears  and  blood. 

Yet  he  mined  in  thought  and  coined  in  speech,  a  very 
California  of  the  golden  nuggets  of  God's  grandest  truths 
stamped,  not  with  the  form  of  eagle  or  goddess,  but 
with  the  shining  face  of  emancipated  and  glorified  hu- 
manity. 

"What,"  asked  of  me  a  certain  person  who  believes 
more  in  making  money  than  in  making  reforms,  "did 
Colonel  Harper  ever  do  (meaning  financially)  for  his 
family  ?"  I  replied :  "He  lifted  it,  with  loving  and  Her- 
culean labor,  from  the  common  clods  of  the  valley  to  the 
proud  and  shining  heights  of  his  sublime  kinship  with  the 
great  names  of  the  noblest  and  best  in  human  history, 
among  which  his  own  name  will  stand  linked  forever  to 
the  stars  and  the  ages.  And  this,"  I  added,  "my  friend, 
not  all  the  gold  on  earth  could  have  done." 

Colonel  Harper  devoutly  believed  in  the  literal  second 
coming  of  Christ,  to  make  this  old  earth  over  again,  and 
to  make  the  "New  Earth"  the  actual  home  of  God  as 
well  as  the  home  of  purified  humanity,  dwelling  in  re- 
newed bodies  and  made  absolutely  free  and  happy  forever 
in  busy  and  active  lives. 


REV.  W.  B.  G  ALLAH  ER, 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  39 

He  was  both  profound  and  enthusiastic  on  this  great 
theme,  and  it  was,  to  my  certain  knowledge,  his  inner 
meat  and  drink,  his  perpetual  feast  and  fountain  of  peace 
and  joy,  in  the  honored  quiet  of  his  declining  years. 

Instead  of  sorrowing  and  murmuring  and  repining  in 
old  age  because  the  reforms  in  which  he  had  labored  with 
such  brilliant  hopes,  such  tireless  zeal,  such  mighty 
energy  and  such  lofty  enthusiasm,  had  not  been  accom- 
plished; he  only  became  enlarged  and  sweetened  in  his 
moral  and  intellectual  nature,  seeing  in  the  "second  com- 
ing" of  Christ,  with  all  power  and  glory,  his  lifelong 
ideal  earth  and  its  government,  with  all  human  tyranny, 
oppression  and  evil  cast  out  of  its  happy  borders,  at  last 
fully  and  forever  realized. 

It  was  equally  a  joy  and  an  honor  for  anyone  to  have 
the  friendship  and  confidence  of  this  great,  true  and  noble 
man. 

His  family,  his  friends,  the  world,  are  all  the  better 
that  he  has  lived,  and  lived  such  a  grand  and  true,  such 
a  broad,  loving,  heroic  and  unselfish  life. 

Sweet  be  his  rest  and  glorious  his  memory,  as  long  as 
human  hearts  still  bound  and  thrill  to  the  music  of  faith, 
hope  and  love,  and  still  long  for  more  perfect  life,  liberty 
and  happiness.  REV.  W.  B.  GALLAHER. 


LET   ME  DREAM. 

BY.  REV.   W.  B.  GALLAHER. 

Dedicated  to  the  Memory  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

Let  me  dream  that  the  sweetest,  the  grandest,  best, 

The  hope  of  ages  long, 
Will  soon  come  to  all  men,  and  the  world's  oppressed 

Sing  freedom's  happy  song. 

Let  me  dream  that  all  men  shall  brothers  become, 

In  a  great,  a  mighty  love ; 
While  all  Hell,  in  despair  at  the  sight,  stands  dumb, 

And  Heaven  is  glad  above. 


40  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

Let  me  dream  that  the  wolf  shadows  not  the  door, 

Of  any  home  on  earth  ; 
And  that  ragged  and  shivering  want  no  more 

Blights  manhood's  grace  and  worth. 

Let  me  dream  that  the  red  hell  of  war  is  gone, 

With  that  beyond  the  grave; 
And  that  God  looks  not  down  in  sore  grief  upon 

A  world  he  cannot  save. 

Let  me  dream  Love  and  Justice  flow  wide,  a  sea, 

Sailing  o'er  which  men  find 
Only  ports  of  true  happiness,  rich  and  free, 

With  gifts  for  all  mankind. 

Let  me  dream  human  life  is  at  last  a  joy, 

A  very  heaven  for  all ; 
That  no  longer  men  live  to  hate,  crush,  destroy, 

But  heed  only  Love's  sweet  call. 

Tell  me  not :      "It  is  only  a  happy  dream, 

And  it  can  never  be ; 
For  a  cold,  selfish  greed  poisons  deep  the  stream 

Of  life,  past  remedy." 

Nay,  this  thought  blasphemes  God  through  His  creature 
man, 

Whose  progress  is  at  stake; 
And  who  cannot  fulfill  God's  eternal  plan, 

Till  Love  and  Justice  break 

The  old  gyves  of  humanity's  life  and  hope 

O'er  all  this  groaning  earth, 
And  all  men  shall  climb  Godward  the  infinite  slope 

Whence  Love  and  Justice  have  birth. 


THIS,  THE  THIRD    DIVISION,  CONTAINS  THE  CHOICEST 

SPEECHES  AND  WRITINGS    OF   MR.  HARPER 

FOR    FIFTY    YEARS. 


THE  QUESTION  STATED. 

"The  Conspiracy  of  the  I9th  Century," 
"To  Change  the  Structure  of  Civilization." 

— Figaro. 

Christendom   is   directly   involved,    the    whole   world 
proximately. 

This  age  is  to  end  in  ruin. 

The  great  apostasy  foretold  is  here. 

The  church  and  state  are  under  malign  influence. 

Greed  is  god. 

Unclean  spirits  sway  men  as  never  before. 

Class  laws  rule. 

Caste  distinctions  reign. 

The  truth  is  covered  fathoms  deep  by  political  chi- 
canery and  ecclesiastical  Jesuitism. 

The  right  is  a  myth. 

Cicero  said: 

"Justice  consists  in  doing  no  injury  to  men." 

Governments  now  are  bulwarks  of  tyranny. 

Under  the  cry  "liberty"  license  riots. 

Europe  and  America  are  under  a  plutocracy. 

The   "classes"   and  the   "masses" — Which  shall  sur- 
render? 

The  "masses"  are  serfs. 

The  "classes"  satraps. 

Helotism  the  result — sele  esti. 

The  problem  that  confronts  the  world  is  money. 

To  hide  it  is  the  chief  aim  of  the  Conspiracy. 

The  danger  is  infinite. 

To  conceal  this  is  the  secret  of  governments. 

Europe  hatched  the  "plot." 

41 


42  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

America  joined. 

Both  are  now  pushing  the  "scheme." 

The  crisis  is  here. 

The  plot  developed. 

The  flood  upon  us. 

The  key  to  this  bottomless  pit  is  Contraction. 

No  word  relating  to  material  interests,  to  human 
wants,  has  so  much  of  Satan  and  so  little  of  God  in  it. 

Ruin  its  mission,  hell  its  home. 

This  "death,  on  the  pale  horse"  is  to  be  driven  through 
earth  and  turn  it  to  a  Sodom. 

Debt  is  to  be  the  Moloch — 

Banks  of  issue  the  great  red  dragon. 

To  these,  bound  hand  and  foot,  labor  is  to  be  given. 

Leading  figures. 

"Debt  and  the  volume  of  money." 

Both  have  been  manipulated. 

Both  are  used  as  catch  words — 

To  hide  the  Conspiracy. 

And  both  have  been  used  to  dishonor  God  and  rob 
man.  Not  from  inherent  qualities,  but  from  the  place 
they  are  made  to  assume. 

It  took  more  than  sixteen  hundred  years  to  destroy  the 
old  civilizations. 

The  play  upon  the  two  words  "gold"  and  "silver" — 
while  contracting  the  volume  at  last  did  it. 

From  eighteen  hundred  million  dollars,  down  to  two 
hundred  million  dollars,  brought  the  end. 

Two-thirds  of  the  race  perished. 

The  whole  globe  reeled  near  to  its  death. 

God  intervened. 

The  great  store-house  opened  as  by  omnipotence. 

Gold  discovery,  supplemented  by  silver,  filled  the 
world. 

The  earth  never  saw  the  like.  North  America,  South 
America,  Australia,  Siberia,  Africa — 

And  the  volume  of  money  stirred  man,  till  this  century 
is  the  gem  of  the  centuries. 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  43 

It  was  the  swelling  volume  of  money  that  brought  the 
miraculous  achievements  of  the  iQth  century — 

Making  it  the  triumphal  arch  of  the  ages. 

To  destroy  it  by  a  shrinking  volume  is  to  make  the 
Conspiracy  the  complement  of  Perdition. 

Expansion  and  contraction  mark  the  most  wondrous 
page  of  human  history. 

This  new  world,  hid  from  the  nations,  was  selected  to 
show  the  contrast  in  its  widest  light. 

Allison,  H.  E.,  says: 

"The  two  greatest  events  which  have  occurred  in  the 
history  of  mankind  have  been  directly  brought  about  by 
contraction  and  expansion  of  the  circulating  medium  of 
society. 

"The  fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,  so  long  ascribed  in 
ignorance  to  heathenism  and  moral  corruption,  was  in 
reality  brought  about  by  a  decline  in  the  silver  and  gold 
mines  of  Spain  and  Greece.  And  as  if  Providence  had 
intended  to  reveal  in  the  clearest  manner  the  influence 
of  this  mighty  agent  in  human  affairs,  the  restoration  of 
mankind  from  the  ruin  which  these  causes  had  produced 
was  owing  to  the  opposite  set  of  agencies  being  put  in 
operation.  Columbus  led  the  way  in  the  career  of  reno- 
vation. When  he  spread  his  sails  across  the  Atlantic  he 
bore  mankind  and  is  fortunes  in  his  bark. 

"The  annual  supply  of  the  precious  metals  for  the  use 
of  the  globe  was  tripled;  before  a  century  had  expired 
the  prices  of  every  species  of  produce  were  quadrupled. 

"The  weight  of  debt  and  taxes  insensibly  wore  off  un- 
der the  influence  of  that  prodigious  increase ;  in  the  reno- 
vations of  industry  the  relations  of  society  were  changed, 
the  weight  of  feudalism  cast  off ;  the  rights  of  man  estab- 
lished." 

Money  is  a  factor,  materially,  in  God's  economies,  that 
leads  to  the  hill-tops  of  freedom,  or  sinks  to  the  valleys 
of  death. 

It  makes  and  unmakes  ages. 

It  gives  and  takes  dispensations. 

It  is  God's  blessing  or  God's  curse — to  nations — as  it 
is  used. 


44  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

THE  MARCH   OF  THE  CONSPIRACY. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  Christian  Era  there  was 
$1,800,000,000. 

This  went  out  in  waste,  till  at  the  beginning  of  the 
discoveries  in  the  New  World  there  was  less  than  $20,- 
000,000. 

Through  that  long  period,  the  Dark  Ages,  the  race 
verged  on  extinction. 

The  Silver  Commission  says : 

"During  this  period  the  most  extraordinary  and  baleful 
changes  took  place  in  the  condition  of  the  world. 

"Population  dwindled  and  commerce,  arts,  wealth  and 
freedom  all  disappeared.  The  people  were  reduced  to 
poverty  and  misery  of  the  most  degraded  condition  of 
serfdom  and  slavery.  The  disintegration  of  society  was 
almost  complete.  The  conditions  of  life  were  so  hard 
that  individual  selfishness  was  the  only  thing  consistent 
with  the  instinct  of  self-preservation.  All  public  spirit, 
all  generous  emotions,  all  the  noble  aspirations  of  man 
shriveled  and  disappeared  as  the  volume  of  money  shrank 
and  prices  fell. 

History  records  no  such  disastrous  transition  as  that 
from  the  Roman  Empire  to  the  Dark  Ages." 

The  mighty  Roman  Empire  had  ceased. 

The  main  cause  of  this  fall  of  man  was  brought  about 
by  the  shrinking  volume  of  money. 

"Money  is  the  great  instrument  of  association,  the  very 
fiber  of  social  organism,  the  vitalizing  force  of  industry, 
the  protoplasm  of  civilization,  and  as  essential  to  its  exist- 
ence as  oxygen  is  to  animal  life.  Without  money  civiliza- 
tion could  not  have  had  a  beginning;  with  diminishing 
supply  it  must  languish,  and  unless  relieved,  finally  per- 
ish."—S.  C. 

Gold  was  discovered  at  Sutter's  Mill,  California,  1848. 
In  Australia  1851,  and  in  Siberia  1852. 

"The  production  of  gold  never  had  an  equal." — Jevons. 

Debt-holders  became  alarmed. 

Investigation  was  begun. 

Agents  came  from  Europe  and  their  report  tended  to 
allay  the  excitement. 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  45 

The  bondholder  fought  gold! 

That  was  the  plentiful  metal. 

It  is  the  volume,  not  the  material,  that  the  creditor  class 
watch. 

Note  now. 

As  early  as  1848  a  "plot"  was  laid  to  put  the  world  in 
debt.  (McKenzie.) 

Paris,  London,  Berlin,  was  the  seat — parties  there  laid 
the  scheme.  Great  banking  houses  undertook  to  perfect 
it.  It  was  worked  very  cautiously  and  only  a  select  few 
were  in  the  full  of  the  secret. 

The  McKenzie  "cipher"  gives  the  vastness  of  the 
scheme. 

It  worked  so  well  that  by  1854  a  mighty  debt  held  by 
"combined  persons"  had  been  created. 

HEUREUX    HAZZARD. 

"The  syndicate,  secretly,  is  authorized  to  enlarge  the 
capital,  adding  to  its  stock  three,  four  or  five  times  the 
true  capital.  To  do  this  the  great  press  of  the  world 
must  be  'managed.'  So  the  plan  will  appear,  as  it  is 
made  public,  a  vast  enterprise  to  benefit  the  people.  In 
this  way  debt  can  be  magnified  to  any  amount  and  the 
holders  of  these  can  easily  control  legislation.  Thus  can 
'combined  persons,'  by  means  of  'combination,'  perfect 
this  plan."— A.  B.  C. 

Since  the  discovery  of  gold  in  California  in  1848,  $3,- 
500,000,000  has  been  added  to  the  coin  of  the  world.  As 
this  almost  infinite  sum  was  flowing,  Europe  took  alarm. 

In  1854,  when  the  gold  flood  was  at  its  best,  the  debt- 
holders  sent  commissioners  to  the  gold  fields.  England 
and  France  did  not  change.  But  in  1857  Germany  and 
Austria  demonetized  gold.  Secret  agents  of  the  money 
power  began  to  combine  to  bring  about  the  "era  of  debt." 
(Sloan.) 

So  as  to  manage  the  world  by  "combined  persons" — 
corporations! 

Bonding  and  funding  was  the  plan. 

And  it  was  to  go  on  till  the  fund  (debt)  thus  estab- 
lished was  large  enough  for  the  annual  interest  to  absorb 


46  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

the  yearly  increase  of  wealth.  This  plan  was  to  embrace 
Christendom  first,  finally  the  world.  (Bouro  Dispatch.) 

"The  powers  of  darkness  have  sent  forth  their  hosts 
to  enter  into  tyrants,  the  rulers  and  officials  of  all  Chris- 
tendom, and  Satan  is  about  to  work  his  masterpiece 
against  the  happiness  of  man.  There  is  likely  to  be  an 
effort  made  by  the  capital  classes  to  fasten  upon  the  world 
a  rule  through  their  wealth,  and  by  means  of  reduced 
wages,  place  the  masses  upon  a  footing  more  degrading 
and  dependent  than  has  ever  been  known  in  history.  The 
spirit  of  money  worshippers  seems  to  be  rapidly  develop- 
ing in  this  direction.'- — Leedback. 

The  grandeur  of  modern  civilization  was  brought 
about  by  swelling  the  volume  of  money. 

The  influx  of  gold  scared  the  plotters. 

The  volume  of  money  was  defeating  their  scheme. 

The  American  rebellion  was  coming  to  the  front ;  war 
was  sure. 

This  was  seized  upon  as  a  means  to  aid  the  great 
scheme. 

Secret  instructions  went  forth  in  cipher  and  by  trusted 
agents. 

The  United  States  was  added  to  the  territory  that  was 
to  be  revolutionized. 

The  war  began  and  our  money  system  went  to  pieces. 

The  noted  "Hazzard  circular"  was  found  "floating 
about"  and  its  demands  began  to  take  shape. 

The  legislation  asked  came  into  existence  slowly,  but 
surely — each  act  was  the  well-matured  step  in  a  system 
that  would  subvert  this  grand  civilization. 

"This  fact  reveals  the  real  nature  of  the  conspirators 
who,  for  the  last  twenty  years,  have  persistently  endeav- 
ored to  demonetize  silver  and  paper  money,  and  who  have 
strenuously  resisted  every  proposition  that  looked  to 
maintaining  the  volume  of  the  money  or  increasing  it." 
— Jones  U.  S.  S. 

"The  strikes  of  the  workingmen  should  be  directed 
against  bondholders,  annuitants  and  the  income  classes 
of  the  world." — Jones,  U.  S.  S. 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  47 

"Perpetual  debt  on  a  gold  basis  and  the  volume  of 
money  subject  to  the  ccntrol  of  banks." — Swazey. 

This  ex  cathedra  rules  the  iQth  century.  And  well  has 
it  been  said  by  a  dying  hero  as  he  listens  to  the  song  of 
greed, 

Ilias  Malorum. 

"I  think  it  due  to  the  American  public,  that  they  should 
be  made  acquainted  with  the  most  tremendous  financial 
operations  ever  known  to  mankind.  *  *  In  my  confi- 
dential relations  with  the  various  great  banking  houses 
as  correspondent  of  a  leading  firm — and  by  means  of  a 
stray  letter  which  came  accidentally  into  my  possession. 
I  acquired  information  that  seems  to  me  of  the  highest 
importance.  As  early  as  1863  letters  were  received  by 
the  Rothschilds  of  this  city  (Paris).  *  *  Whenever 
coin  is  scarce,  it  inures  to  the  creditor  class.  *  *  I 
have  indisputable  evidence  in  my  possession  that  an  im- 
mense fund  was  raised  to  bring  about  the  general  adop- 
tion of  the  gold-metal  basis.  *  *  The  money  writers 
and  political  economists  in  London,  Paris,  Berlin,  Frank- 
fort and  Amsterdam,  were  either  argued  into  the  adop- 
tion of  this  view  or  purchased  outright.  *  *  In  other 
words,  the  great  capitalists  of  the  world,  by  a  gigantic 
conspiracy,  managed  to  tax  the  whole  world  twenty-five 
per  cent." — H.  G. 

The  great  wars  in  Europe,  fermented  by  the  conspira- 
tors who  had  formed  the  plot,  was  the  means  to  create  the 
debt. 

The  Crimean  war,  1854;  the  Franco-Prussian,  1859; 
the  United  States,  1860-4;  the  Austro-Prussian,  1866; 
the  Franco-Prussian,  1870;  the  Russio-Turkish  of  1876. 

Thus  conspiracies  against  the  happiness  of  man  swelled 
the  national  debts  to  an  almost  infinite  amount.  Co- 
jointly,  the  "new  plan"  (Stoddard)  of  debt-making  was 
being  perfected. 

"Chartered  corporations"  were  endowed  with  vast  do- 
main in  lands  and  enriched  by  large  gifts  of  public  credit. 
These  legal  persons  took  possession  of  money,  the  instru- 
ment that  changes  the  title  to  property;  they  also  took 
possession  of  the  means  of  transportation,  which  changes 


48  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

the  place  of  property.  And  availing  themselves  of  these 
corporate  privileges  and  individual  rights,  they  laid  upon 
Christendom  the  infinite  burden  of  ninety  thousand  mil- 
lion dollars  of  debt! 

THE  FIRST  PLOT  CHANGED. 

As  the  conspiracy  developed,  a  new  fact  confronted 
the  conspirators.  It  was  discovered  that  the  gold  wave 
had  reached  the  highest  point  and  was  receding. 

And  in  the  light  of  this  fact  another  still  more  startling 
appeared. 

The  old  worked-out  silver  mines  of  the  Spaniards  had 
been  opened,  steam  applied  to  rid  them  of  water  and 
handle  the  ore,  so  that  they  were  yielding  richer  than  at 
their  discovery. 

Besides,  new  mines  of  fineness  unsurpassed  were  be- 
ing developed. 

The  Comstock  Lode  appeared  to  be  a  miracle  in 
quality  and  endless  in  quantity. 

The  plot  was  changed. 

THE  CONSPIRACY   REVAMPED. 

Silver  became  the  dangerous  metal,  because  the  most 
abundant. 

At  the  close  of  the  Franco-Prussian  war  the  new  plot 
was  complete. 

The  trap  ready  to  be  sprung. 

The  great  capitalists  of  Europe  and  America  were  fully 
in  accord. 

The  few  who  led  had  completed  the  details. 

Correspondents  and  trusted  agents  had  "fixed"  the 
press  and  political  leaders. 

Leading  powers  were  ready  to  fall  into  the  hands  of 
the  "Revolutionists  of  the  loth  century."  (Saliames.) 

Great  writers  on  political  economy — the  money  branch 
of  it — had  shaped  the  march, 

They  had  been  "seen."     (Sturm.) 

"The  secret  work  of  'pimps,'  'spies,'  'clunks'  and 
'bunkos,'  is  not  yet  all  discovered. 

"Laws  were  made  as  they  'dictated,'  or  changed  after 
they  were  made." — Bye  Play. 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  49 

A    SINGLE     GOLD     STANDARD. 

This  was  the  ultimate  aim.  "Coin"  was  the  word  used 
as  the  "basis." 

But  law  officers,  secretaries  of  treasury  departments 
and  great  bank  officials  always  used  "the  gold  standard" 
as  the  end  to  be  reached.  Everything  that  tended  to 
break  up  the  double  standard  was  resorted  to. 

The  agents  of  this  mighty  conspiracy  were  at  every 
capital  in  Europe  and  took  possession.  The  Republic 
had  to  meet  them. 

And  all  who  could  be  were  corrupted. 

All  who  could  be  were  bought. 

And  certain  ones  joined  the  conspiracy. 

The  ignorant  went  to  the  slaughter  like  sheep. 

It  was  of  these  agents  and  "enemies"  that  Secretary 
Fessenden  spoke  in  his  first  report  after  taking  the  port- 
folio of  the  Treasury. 

The  policy  of  the  great  banking  houses  of  Christen- 
dom, thus  combined,  became  the  most  destructive  element 
to  human  happiness  ever  instituted  among  men. 

There  is  already  brought  to  light  much  of  the  inner 
workings;  much  is  yet  to  be  shown. 

The  debt  of  the  world  at  the  end  of  the  Prussian  war 
was  enormous.  And  the  "money  power" — let  us  call 
it  that — had  got  control  of  every  government  in  Christen- 
dom, so  as  to  secure  the  laws  and  the  policies  it  asked 
for.  The  conspiracy  had  reached  its  new  position  and 
demanded  three  things — 

GOLD,    DEBTS,    BANKS. 

The  ostensible  fight  was  against  "silver"  and  the 
"double  standard." 

The  ultimate  end  sought,  was  the  control  of  the  vol- 
ume of  money. 

The  object — enrich  the  debt-holder,  by  robbing  the 
debtor. 

Germany  demonetized  silver  by  refusing  it  at  her 
mints.  She  thus  doubled  her  gold  and  the  vast  amount 
demanded  from  France  had  filled  her  borders. 

Austria  did  the  same. 


50  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

The  legislation  of  every  country  was  "tampered  with." 
(Smelser.)  Legislators  found  measures  offered  by  them- 
selves so  changed  as  to  be  opposite  to  what  they  intended. 

Secret  influences  were  brought  to  bear  to  turn  the  right 
into  the  wrong. 

Laws  were  altered  surreptitiously. 

A  hidden  power  shaped  legislation,  a  hand  the  light 
never  saw. 

Treachery,  conspiracy,  ignorance,  so  blended  you  could 
not  tell  where  the  one  began  or  the  other  ended. 

Executives  of  powerful  governments  signed  and  gave 
effect  to  laws  that  changed  the  whole  policy  of  their  in- 
stitutions and  did  not  know  it.  Such  mysterious  enact- 
ments found  their  way  into  the  laws  of  the  greatest  states 
in  Europe.  So  potent  are  these  laws  upon  the  affairs  of 
men  that  in  less  than  two  decades  the  race  divided  into 
two  classes  more  marked  than  was  ever  known. 

The  rich  have  grown  rich  faster  and  the  poor  have 
grown  poor  faster  than  ever  known  in  the  annals  of  time. 
The  result,  elements  of  danger  confront  us  such  as  man 
has  never  met  before. 

OUR    LEGISLATION. 

The  slave  code  brought  us  to  the  valley  of  the  shadow 
of  death. 

It  baptized  us  in  blood  and  washed  the  hearthstones 
with  the  tears  of  weeping  mothers  and  dying  children. 

It  went  out  amid  the  terrors  of  war,  leaving  an  entail- 
ment  not  yet  settled. 

And  the  laws  following  have  covered  us  with  greater 
danger  to  the  Republic  than  was  chattel  slavery. 

Take  them  as  they  stand  and  they  are  a  code  of  honor, 
because  national. 

1.  The  Act  of  February  25,  1862. 

2.  The  Act  of  March  25,  1863. 

3.  The  Act  of  January  6,  1866. 

4.  The  Act  of  March  18,  1869. 

5.  The  Act  of  July  14,  1870. 

6.  The  Act  of  February  12,  1873. 

7.  The  Act  of  January  14,  1875. 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  51 

These  seven  laws  and  their  correlates  are  the  product 
of  design,  their  result,  a  conspiracy. 

They  are  an  estoppel  to  liberty. 

They  are  a  mandate  prohibitum  against  freedom. 

They  are  a  travesty  on  government  of  the  people. 

They  establish  by  their  cohesion,  government  of  a  class. 

A  class  infinitesimal. 

Less  than  one-quarter  of  one  per  cent  of  the  people. 

They  are  genera  numeros. 

Monopolies  generate  from  them,  as  death  from  sin. 

The  brood  thus  spawned  are  vampires — railroads,  tele- 
graphs, telephones,  lands,  bonds,  oil,  gas — on,  on,  on,  the 
whole  crowned  by 

THE  MONEY  POWER. 

They  are  Satan's  masterpiece. 

They  are  Mammon's  code  of  greed. 

They  are  Fata  Morgana — 

Earth's  mirage  and  hope's  gangrene. 

They  rob  heaven  of  her  jewels  and  fill  hell  with  the 
lost. 

They  subvert  equity. 

They  establish  inequity. 

They  lead  the  struggles  of  the  class  against  the  mass. 

They  mount  capital  on  the  shoulders  of  labor. 

They  are  a  phantasm — 

They  turn  railroads  into  a  2x7  genii — "two  billions 
money"  and  "five  billions  water." 

They  turn  telegraphs  into  a  1x6  genii — "twenty  mil- 
lions money"  and  "one  hundred  millions  water." 

Capital  takes  the  "6"  and  grows  fat,  and  labor  pays 
all  and  grows  poor. 

Capital  thus  "strikes"  for  higher  "dividends"  and  it  is 
called — "great  smartness." 

Labor  "strikes"  for  higher  "wages"  to  pay  these 
higher  "dividends"  and  it  is  called — "a  riot." 

They  turn  the  telephone  into  a  2x20  genii — "two  mil- 
lions money"  and  "eighteen  millions  water." 

They  make  the  land,  the  bond,  the  oil  and  the  gas  a 
scourge  in  the  hand  of  capital  to  lash  the  back  of  labor, 
as  the  Greek  slave  was  never  tortured. 


52  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

On  through  the  family  of  genii,  ghoul,  devil  of  monop- 
oly, at  last  the  head-center  is  reached. 

BANKS  AND  MONEY. 

They  are  fire  tailed  foxes  in  the  wheatfields  of  produc- 
tion. 

They  are  poverty,  hunger,  despair  to  labor. 

They  are  death  on  the  pale  horse  and  hell  following  to 
— happiness. 

The  Conspiracy  is  man's  oppressor. 

The  Conspiracy  is  earth's  destroyer. 

The  Conspiracy  is  God's  enemy. 

Man  must  make  himself. 

Intellectually, 

Morally  and 

Physically  as  perfect  as  possible. 

This  is  the  mortal  obligation.  How  does  the  Con- 
spiracy affect  him  ?  Does  it  hinder  him  in  the  discharge 
of  these  high  duties  to  God,  country  and  self? 

Let  the  world  learn  now — so  esti  alia — that  the  natural 
rights  of  man  shall  never  give  place  to  the  vested  rights 
of  property. 


MR.  HARPER'S  POSITION  ON  TEMPERANCE. 

"During  the  temperance  crusade  in  Indiana  in  1859 
Mr.  Harper  took  an  active  part.  He  was  a  delegate  from 
the  Eighth  congressional  district  to  the  State  Temper- 
ance convention  held  in  Indianapolis,  Ind.,  January  18, 
1859. 

"Air.  Jesse  Harper  appealed  eloquently  to  the  con- 
vention against  destroying  the  force  and  effect  of  the 
resolution  by  the  insertion  of  the  word  'Lawful.'  His 
speech  was  received  with  great  applause  by  the  ultra 
members  of  the  convention." 

I  wish  here  to  insert  a  portion  of  a  pamphlet  on  the 
Liquor  Traffic  written  by  Mr.  Harper  in  1879.  It  is  the 
best  argument  I  have  read  on  the  subject.  He  says: 

"The  giving  to  the  liquor  traffic  of  the  sanction  of  law 
was  and  is  now  a  crime  against  the  very  life  of  society. 
It  is  a  thrust  at  our  Christianity  as  deadly  as  any  ever 
conceived  by  the  malice  of  Satan.  Let  us  name  one  other 
general  thing  which  has  given  this  villainous  traffic  a 
hold  in  the  world  that  it  never  could  have  had  but  for  the 
fact  of  ignoring  it  as  a  political  question.  While  it  is  a 
great  moral  question,  it  is  equally  a  great  political  ques- 
tion. And  as  long  as  it  has  the  sanction  of  law — law 
which  is  but  political  enactment — it  cannot  be  put  down 
by  moral  power.  A  man  who  consents  by  his  ballot  to 
the  law  to  fix  a  legalized  liquor  traffic  upon  the  statute 
books  of  the  state  and  then  tries  to  pray  away  the  effects 
of  his  vote,  is  a  hypocrite.  VOTE  AS  YOU  PRAY. 

"While  under  these  general  statements  we  wish  to  de- 
clare plainly  that  until  the  temperance  question  is  made 
a  political  issue  and  the  ballot  invoked,  the  crime  of 
drunkenness  will  increase.  Until  it  is  made  a  party  issue 
it  will  not  be  banished  from  the  earth.  Slavery  lived  and 
flourished  amid  the  fostering  prayers  of  moral  suasion 
for  its  eradication.  But  when  a  party  said,  in  the  plenti- 
tude  of  its  power,  'thus  far  shalt  thou  go  and  no 

53 


54  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

further,'  and  'here  shall  thy  proud  waves  be  stayed/ 
then  slavery  died.  So  must  this  wrong — a  legalised 
liquor  traffic — be  abolished.  And  only  in  this  way  can  it 
be  done.  It  is  a  mistake,  a  fearful  mistake,  made  by 
temperance  people,  not  to  treat  the  liquor  traffic  as  a  po- 
litical question.  It  can  never  be  put  down  by  moral 
suasion  while  the  law  is  on  its  side.  And  the  law  will 
be  on  its  side  just  as  long  as  it  is  ignored  as  a  political 
question.  Self-deceived  Christians  who  are  led  captive 
by  the  Devil  at  his  will,  find  a  kind  of  balm  to  their  con- 
science in  praying  and  working  against  the  traffic;  and 
being  thus  seasoned  by  grace,  they  are  the  better  prepared 
to  vote  with  one  or  the  other  of  the  old  parties — both  of 
which  are  sold  out,  and  have  been  for  years,  to  the 
whisky  interest. 

******J(:5lc5(: 

LAW  IS  CRYSTALLIZED  BALLOTS. 

"The  attempt  that  is  made  (by  some)  to  ease  the  con- 
science by  setting  up  that  it  is  morally  right  to  sell  sugar 
and  immortal  to  sell  liquor,  is  to  make  oneself  a  hypo- 
crite. And  he  who  does  so,  be  he  Christian  or  sinner, 
proves  that  he  has  on  spectacles  smoked  in  brimstone, 
and  to  the  soft  title  hypocrite  should  be  added  scoundrel. 
For  if  selling  liquor  as  a  beverage  is  morally  wrong,  then 
what  right  has  the  voter  by  his  ballot,  enacted  into  law, 
to  say  that  that  which  is  morally  wrong  shall  by  law  be 
legally  right.  No  one,  we  say.  Yet  just  this  very  kind 
of  hypocrisy  is  filling  the  whole  land — a  thing  so  appall- 
ing as  to  pall  heaven  in  drapery  and  is  stirring  hell  into 
jubilees.  By  the  ballot  legalize  the  wrong,  then  cry 
moral  suasion.  Shame !  And  yet  every  silly  pated  moral 
reformer  who  has  voted  to  legalize  the  traffic  is  doing 
this  thing.  All  such  are  a  fraud.  All  such  need  to  be 
converted  to  common  honesty  before  they  start  out  as 
evangels.  All  such  fellows  are  moral  cowards,  base 
hypocrites  and  knavish  cheats.  Those  who  know  no  bet- 
ter are  fools,  and  those  who  know  better  are  deceptions. 
As  long  as  the  traffic  is  legalized  by  means  of  the  ballot, 
to  try  to  put  it  down  by  moral  suasion  is  hypocrisy,  and 
those  who  vote  for  the  traffic  and  go  about  preaching 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  55 

moral  suasion  are  a  fraud,  and  are  obtaining  money  un- 
der false  pretense. 

Believing  as  we  do  that  when  the  facts  as  to  the  traffic 
are  by  the  people  understood,  then  the  proper  remedy 
will  be  offered,  we  earnestly  call  your  attention  to  the 
facts.  Under  the  head  intoxicants  we  include  distilled, 
malt  and  vinous  liquors.  We  take  three  years,  covering 
a  space  of  twenty  years : 

In  1850,  cost  of  production $  26,000,000 

In  1860,  cost  of  production 57,000,000 

In  1870,  cost  of  production 98,000,000 

Total  for  three  years $183,000,000 

This  was  for  the  three  years,  1850,  1860,  1870.  Sup- 
pose we  average  each  year's  cost  at  the  cost  of  1860, 
which  was  $57,000,000.  Then  the  cost  of  production  of 
intoxicants  for  twenty  years  would  be  one  billion  one 
hundred  and  forty  million  dollars.  Since  1870  the  in- 
crease has  been  still  greater.  Let  us  now  take  the  last 
year  of  this  twenty — 1870 — and  see  what  it  cost  the 
country  to  sustain  this  traffic  in  intoxicants — a  traffic  in 
human  hopes,  human  souls  and  jewels  of  heaven,  as  it 
has  been  aptly  termed.  Statistics  showing  the  cost  to 
the  people  for  intoxicating  liquors  for  the  year  1870: 

Imported  and  domestic  distilled  liquor.  .  .$1,344,000,000 

Brewed  and  fermented  liquors 123,000,000 

Imported  wines   15,000,000 

Domestic   wines    5,000,000 


Total    $1,487,000,000 

Add  to  this  ninety  million  dollars  cost  of 
litigation,  cost  of  crimes,  prison  ex- 
penses, etc.,  that  is  traceable  directly 
and  indirectly  to  intemperance 90,000,000 


Cost  for  one  year  for  the  traffic $1,577,000,000 

Let  us  next  contrast  the  cost  for  living  for  the  same 
year,  and  thereby  we  shall  be  able  to  see,  as  in  the  very 


56  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

shadow  of  death,  what  it  costs  annually  to  fill  hell  with 
the  lost.    Here  are  the  figures  for  1870: 

Cost  of  flour  and  meal $530,000,000 

Cost  of  cotton  goods 1 15,000,000 

Cost  of  boots  and  shoes 90,000,000 

Cost  of  clothing 70,000,000 

Cost  of  woolen  goods 60,000,000 

Cost  of  newspapers  and  printing 40,000,000 


Total  for  a  year $905,000,000 

We  see  by  this  showing  that  for  liquor  alone,  in  a  year, 
one-third  more  money  was  paid  than  for  flour,  meal, 
cotton  goods,  boots  and  shoes,  clothing  in  general,  woolen 
goods,  newspapers,  printing,  etc.  Sad  picture! 

Look  now  for  a  moment  at  the  number  engaged  in 
this  work  of  ruin,  this  work  of  death ;  persons  carrying 
on  this  traffic,  and  who  are  as  much  protected  in  it  by 
law  as  are  those  who  preach  the  gospel,  minister  to  the 
sick  and  dying,  attend  to  the  daily  affairs  of  life  and  bury 
the  dead  as  the  last  duty  to  our  fallen. 

1870. 

There  were  140,000  licensed  liquor  saloons  in  the  coun- 
try, each  having  (estimated)  40  daily  customers,  making 
5,600,000  drinks.  That  forty  drinks  a  day  at  each  saloon 
is  not  an  overestimate',  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  Super- 
intendent Kennedy  of  the  city  of  New  York,  by  actual 
tests  made  at  233  of  the  average  drinking  places  of  the 
city,  found  that  the  daily  drinks  of  each  were  134.  As 
a  parenthesis  let  us  give  you  a  paragraph  from  Dyer's 
official  report  showing  how  the  deadly  traffic  in  the  city 
of  New  York  is  progressing.  And  mind,  the  places  we 
refer  to  are  authorised  by  law.  Those  other  places  where 
they  have  not  the  thin  guise  of  hypocrisy  covering  them, 
known  as  "licensed  saloons,"  we  pass  for  the  time,  pass 
them  so  as  to  take  a  glance  at  the  "regulated  places" — 
legal  places.  These  legal  places  have  the  prayers  of  min- 
ister and  the  people  that  they  may  cause  death's  triumph 
over  body  and  soul — fill  hell  with  the  lost  and  the  treas- 
ury of  the  great  republic  with  many  shekels. 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  57 

NEW  YORK. — "According  to  Dyer's  official  report  there 
are  places  for  selling  intoxicating  liquors,  5,203.  Super- 
intendent Kennedy  placed  policemen  at  233  of  them  for 
twenty- four  consecutive  hours  and  this  is  the  result : 
Each  rum-hole  receives  a  daily  average  of  134  visits, 
making  an  aggregate  of  697,202  per  day,  4,183,212  per 
week,  or  218,224,226  visits  in  one  year.  Each  visit  aver- 
ages at  least  fifteen  minutes.  This  gives  5,455,605  days 
of  ten  hours  each,  or  1,848  years.  Each  rum-hole  re- 
ceives a  daily  average  of  $141.53,  making  an  aggregate 
of  $736,280.53  per  week,  or  $38,286,590.68  per  annum; 
add  the  value  of  lost  time  at  a  dollar  a  day,  not  including 
Sundays,  and  we  have  for  a  year  $48,612,193.68." 

In  still  further  tabulating  the  traffic  so  that  we  may 
see  its  enormity,  let  it  be  remembered  that: 

"The  quantity  of  distilled,  fermented  and  brewed 
liquors  drank  (1870)  was  sufficient  to  fill  a  canal  four 
feet  deep  and  fourteen  feet  wide  and  eighty  miles  long; 
and  if  all  the  drinkers  could  be  placed  in  procession,  five 
abreast,  they  would  make  an  army  130  miles  long;  and 
if  those  killed  by  the  intemperate  use  of  spiritous  liquors 
were  there  also  we  should  see  a  suicide  at  every  five  miles 
and  550  funerals  per  day ;  and  if  all  the  places  where  in- 
toxicants are  sold  were  placed  in  rows,  in  direct  line,  they 
would  make  a  street  100  miles  long." 

"There  are  400,000  more  persons  engaged  in  the  liquor 
business  in  the  United  States  than  in  preaching  the  gos- 
pel and  school  teaching,  and  from  the  effects  of  intoxi- 
cating drinks  100,000  are  annually  sent  to  prison,  150,- 
ooo  to  drunkards'  graves,  and  200,000  children  reduced 
to  want." 

"The  total  number  engaged  in  the  business  is  560,000, 
of  which  56,663  are  employed  in  making  and  selling  an- 
nually 5,685,633  barrels  of  beer." 

"It  is  estimated  (and  the  estimate  is  rather  over  than 
under)  that  the  cost  of  the  clergy  annually  is  over  $12,- 
000,000 ;  the  lawyers,  criminals,  prisons,  etc.,  cost  an- 
nually $90,000,000,  and  intoxicating  liquors  as  stated 
supra  cost  annually  $1,474,000,000." 

"The  state  of  Pennsylvania  spent  during  the  year  1870 
for  liquors  of  all  kinds,  $152,663,945,  and  for  schools  and 


58  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

teaching,  $5,863,729.  She  had  engaged  in  the  liquor 
business,  78,800  persons ;  she  had  16,870  school  teachers, 
and  she  had  24,000  criminals,  four-fifths  of  whom  were 
made  so  by  strong  drink." 

"The  city  of  Philadelphia  had  4,160  drinking  places, 
and  spent  for  intoxicating  drinks  $30,000,000  in  one 
year." 

"Chicago  had  2,300  liquor  saloons,  and  spent  for  in- 
toxicating liquors  $4,000,000." 

"The  city  of  New  York  had  (1875)  7>ooo  licensed 
drinking  saloons  which,  if  placed  in  a  row  in  a  direct  line, 
would  make  a  street  like  Broadway  thirteen  miles  long. 
She  spent  for  intoxicating  drinks  $60,000,000  during  the 
year.  And  there  were  employed  in  the  business  35,000 
persons.  She  had  450  churches  and  chapels ;  and  there 
were  engaged  in  preaching  and  teaching  the  public  and 
private  schools  3,000  persons,  all  of  which  to  support 
cost  $4,500,000.  The  total  sum  invested  in  the  liquor 
business  of  all  kinds  amounted  to  $140,000,000.  There 
was  only  invested  in  manufactures  $60,000,000,  and  in 
banking  $80,000,000.  The  police  department  cost  $3,000- 
ooo;  for  public  amusements  there  were  paid  $5,000,000. 
The  meat  bill  was  $30,000,000  and  the  bread  $28,000,000. 
The  daily  consumption  of  beer  was  40,000  kegs.  There 
were  65,000  arrests  for  intoxication  and  disorderly  con- 
duct, and  80,000  persons  were  in  institutions  under  the 
care  of  the  Commissioners  of  Charities." 

According  to  the  New  York  Tribune  "The  mere  liquors 
drank  by  the  people  in  one  year  in  the  United  States  is 
nearly  fifteen  hundred  million  dollars,  or  three-fifths  of 
the  national  debt. 

"As  the  amount  of  taxes  paid  by  the  retailers  is  pro- 
portionate to  the  amount  of  their  sales,  we  might  safely 
assume  that  the  real  quantities  sold  are  much  larger,  but 
we  are  content  with  the  retailers'  own  figures.  But  this 
is  not  all.  In  the  manufacture  of  this  amount  of  liquor 
it  is  safe  to  estimate  that  the  materials  used,  including 
corn,  rye,  potatoes,  hops  and  other  crops  and  the  labor, 
are  worth  fifty  per  cent,  of  the  liquors  produced.  This 
leaves  the  distillers  and  brewers  a  net  profit  of  one  hun- 
dred per  cent,  on  their  active  capital  invested  every  time 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  59 

it  is  needed,  which  surely  ought  to  be  enough,  as  they 
can  'turn'  their  capital  four  or  five  times  a  year. 

"These  estimates  show  that  there  are  destroyed  or  con- 
sumed in  making  these  liquors  $750,000,000  worth  of 
grain  of  various  kinds,  potatoes,  grapes,  hops  and  labor, 
i.  e.,  this  value  of  these  articles  is  deducted  from  the  use- 
ful industries  of  the  country,  and  contributes  in  no  degree 
to  its  support.  The  rye  consumed  in  making  whisky 
would  have  made  bread,  and  its  withdrawal  from  the 
supply  of  rye  for  bread  makes  every  loaf  of  bread  dearer. 
So  of  the  other  grains.  Adding  the  value  of  the  food 
products  and  labor  which  are  withdrawn  from  all  useful 
channels  and  practically  destroyed  in  the  manufacture  of 
spirituous  liquors  we  find  the  total  destruction  of  values 
amounts  to  $2,250,000,000  per  year.  Being  considerably 
more  than  the  interest-bearing  portion  of  the  national 
debt. 

"But  this  is  not  the  entire  taxation  which  the  people 
pay  to  sustain  'free  rum.'  To  arrive  at  the  grand  total 
we  must  still  add  the  loss  to  labor,  health  and  industry 
of  the  people  which  results  from  consumption. 

"While  the  benefits  of  this  vast  waste  of  wealth  are 
thus  reduced  to  a  minimum,  no  limit  can  be  assigned  to 
the  evils  resulting  from  its  consumption  in  the  form  of 
liquors.  Twenty-five  cents  worth  of  these  fluids  may 
unfit  a  man  for  business,  fifty  cents  worth  may  place  his 
whole  property  at  the  disposal  of  a  swindler,  and  seventy- 
five  cents  worth  may  cause  him  to  murder  his  wife,  his 
parents  or  his  children. 

"But  merely  the  time  wasted  in  intoxication,  and  the 
destruction  of  property  resulting  from  the  carelessness 
and  crimes  of  intoxicated  persons,  may  be  estimated  at 
$300,000,000  per  annum,  and  even  this  is  far  below  the 
truth.  This  brings  our  annual  taxation  for  'free  rum' 
up  to  $2,550,000,000,  or  considerably  more  than  the  en- 
tire principal  of  the  national  debt." 


TAKE   THE    PLEDGE. 

Let  every  person  take  a  pledge — a  human  pledge — not 
to  make,  sell  or  drink  intoxicants.    Make  the  firm  resolve 


60  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

to  touch  not,  taste  not,  handle  not.  The  human  pledge 
against  the  traffic!  This  is  a  great  thing.  A  pledge  not 
to  do  a  thing  or  to  do  a  thing,  is  a  noble  resolve ;  and  he 
who  opposes  it  arrays  himself  against  the  idea  of  prog- 
ress. In  all  ages  pledges,  in  the  nature  of  vows  and 
promises,  have  been  made  and  held  as  the  highest  of 
human  obligations.  There  is  something  about  them  that 
strengthens,  and  they  operate  to  bind  the  many  into  one. 
A  human  pledge,  the  maker  relying  wholly  on  his  un- 
aided ability  to  keep  and  perform  it,  is  a  powerful  factor 
in  the  accomplishment  of  a  purpose.  The  pledge,  in  this 
sense,  has  wrought  matchless  works,  as  recorded  in  the 
annals  of  the  past.  The  citation  of  a  few  will  not  be 
amiss : 

Demosthenes,  the  son  of  a  blacksmith,  with  only  lim- 
ited opportunities  for  education,  with  an  imperfect  utter- 
ance, yet,  on  seeing  the  multitude  moved  to  enthusiasm 
by  the  words  of  a  traveling  bard,  swore  (pledged  him- 
self) that  he  would  bring  all  Athens  to  bow  at  his  feet. 
How  well  and  almost  miraculously  he  kept  and  performed 
his  pledge  history  in  one  of  its  most  radiant  pages  at- 
tests. He  overcame  all  difficulties,  his  energy  imparted 
new  hope,  his  desires  begat  new  life,  his  pledge  acted 
as  the  motor  which,  at  last,  did  bring  all  Athens  to  his 
feet.  On  the  sea  shore,  with  a  pebble  in  his  mouth,  he 
created  a  speech  that  became  smooth  as  the  flowing 
stream  and  bewitching  as  the  song  of  the  siren.  His  ex- 
ercises as  an  athlete  gave  his  physical  power  a  tone  that 
raised  him  from  effeminacy  to  the  vigor  of  a  giant.  The 
ripened  fruit  of  the  pledge  grew  so  that  Demosthenes 
became  "the  most  illustrious  and  eloquent  orator  of  all 
antiquity." 

Tamerlane,  called  Timur  the  lame,  obscure  in  his 
origin,  deformed  in  his  physical,  being  reel-footed,  be- 
came the  most  renowned  of  warriors,  and  the  most  im- 
placable of  all  despots.  He  was  once  chided  by  a  shep- 
herd for  his  effeminacy  and  lack  of  the  manly.  This  so 
enraged  him  that  he  swore  (pledged  himself)  that  he 
would  own  the  world  and  baptize  a  city  in  blood.  To 
realize  how  fearfully  this  pledge  of  wickedness  was  kept, 
read  of  his  mighty  battles  and  vast  conquests,  and  look 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  61 

at  last  at  the  city  of  Bagdad  baptized  truly  in  blood. 
Eighty  thousand — men,  women  and  children — given  to 
the  sword  after  the  city  had  surrendered.  And  most 
sickening  of  all,  a  pyramid  of  human  skulls  erected  on 
the  great  square  of  the  city.  Then  look  at  the  spectacle 
of  his  having  Bajazet,  his  captive,  carried  through  his 
empire  in  an  iron  cage.  He  kept  that  fearful  vow  in  his 
mind  as  an  ever  potent  venger. 

The  pledge  of  Zanap,  in  the  middle  ages,  when  dark- 
ness, treachery,  treason  and  murder  filled  all  Europe,  is 
grand  indeed.  Confidence  had  almost  departed  from  the 
earth.  This  humble  man  took  a  message  to  carry  from 
the  camp  of  the  Swiss  heroes  who,  in  the  mountain  passes, 
were  keeping  the  fires  of  liberty  from  entirely  dying  out. 
Their  friends  of  the  distant  cantons  were  surrounded 
with  like  perils  and  all  communication  cut  off,  and  the 
penalty  of  death  attached  to  whoever  should  carry  a 
word  from  one  of  these  camps  to  the  other.  Zanap  was 
selected  to  make  the  fearful  passage  from  one  camp  to 
the  other.  He  was  sworn  (pledged  himself)  that  rather 
than  divulge  the  secret  ways  leading  to  the  camp  he 
would  die.  He  took  the  message  and  started  on  the 
dreadful  march.  He  was  captured — his  speech  betrayed 
him.  Then  every  device  of  torture  that  the  malice  of 
tyrants  could  invent  was  brought  to  bear  to  wring  from 
him  the  location  of  the  secret  paths  which,  amid  the 
mountains  of  snow  and  glaciers  of  ice,  led  to  the  camp 
of  those  patriots.  But  all  in  vain.  Slow  torture  drank 
up  his  life  at  last,  but  his  pledge,  secure  as  his  heroic 
manhood  was  noble,  sank  with  him  into  the  grave.  It 
was  a  grand  pledge  and  nobly  kept. 

And  the  valor  of  the  Scots  in  the  time  of  the  dreadful 
wars  between  the  High  and  the  Low  Lands,  and  the 
sacredness  of  the  pledge,  stand  unrivaled.  Their  devo- 
tion to  their  pledges  have  nothing,  in  all  history,  more 
noble.  Bryan  McClain,  as  he  lights  the  telegraph  fire 
on  the  mountain  peak  that  flashes  the  fact  to  the  clans  in 
the  glens,  to  be  shot  to  death  the  next  moment  by  the 
hidden  foe,  is  an  illustration  of  the  binding  force  of  the 
pledge  that  will  forever  thrill  the  human  heart.  Time 
will  not  allow,  nor  space  permit,  or  we  would  speak  of 


62  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

the  secret  pledges  of  societies  that  in  all  past  time,  as 
well  as  the  present,  have  vindicated  their  power.  We 
must  pass  on. 

Having  touched  briefly  on  a  few  historical  instances 
where  the  pledge  has  wrought  like  miracles,  let  us  next 
examine  the  work  of  the  pledge  in  the  temperance  cause. 
Let  us  see  what  simple  human  pledges  have  done.  And 
here  we  are  driven,  as  in  former  illustrations,  to  select 
those  only  which  are  most  marked  and  brilliant.  And 
among  these  the  Washingtonian  pledge  stands  most  con- 
spicuous. 

Those  six  heroes — for  heroes  they  were — who  at  Bal- 
timore, in  the  very  shadow  of  death  took  that  pledge, 
set  a  movement  on  foot  that  swept  over  the  civilized 
world  and  saved  from  the  drunkard's  grave  such  glad 
numbers  as  to  make  the  heart  thrill  with  joy.  These 
men  were  drunkards  on  the  verge  of  death.  Their  act 
was  the  beginning  of  the  great  latter-day  movement.  It 
has  gone  on  gaining  strength  until  today  it  is  an  army 
glorious  in  appointment,  triumphant  in  achievement, 
moving  the  world  to  sympathy  by  its  devotion  to  the 
souls  and  bodies  of  men.  The  pledge  open,  the  pledge 
secret,  the  pledge  in  writing,  the  pledge  divine,  the 
pledge  of  men  and  women  not  to  make,  not  to  sell,  not 
to  drink,  the  number  of  these  is  fast  becoming  a  phalanx 
that  will  ultimately  overcome  all  opposition,  surmount 
every  obstacle,  and  in  its  tireless  march  sweep  the  traffic 
from  the  face  of  the  earth. 

*          ******* 

HOW  SHALL  THE  PLEDGE  BE  KEPT? 

We  have  seen  in  the  foregoing  what  pledges,  vows  and 
promises  have  done,  how  they  have  inspired  humanity, 
enabling  the  weakest  to  become  conquerors.  Let  us  then 
ask  how,  by  what  means,  were  those  most  sacred  obliga- 
tions kept?  How  were  they  performed  by  frail  mortals, 
by  simple  fallen  man?  And  here  we  strike  a  fountain 
inexhaustible,  a  sea  of  strength  that  is  boundless,  a  power 
that  is  God-like — IT  is  PRAYER.  All  men  should  heed 
this  divine  maxim : 

"If  any  man  lack  wisdom  let  him  ask  of  God,  who 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  63 

giveth  to  all  men  liberally  and  upbraideth  not,  and  it 
shall  be  given  him. —  [Bible. 

The  works  that  have  been  wrought,  the  achievements 
that  have  been  accomplished  through  prayer,  are  well 
nigh  endless.  Prayer  is  the  divine  means  to  clothe  the 
mortal  with  the  strength  of  the  infinite.  The  answer  of 
prayer  is  the  victory  of  faith.  In  order  to  aid  us  in  lay- 
ing hold  of  this  proffered  arm,  which  will  enable  us  for 
our  whole  life  to  keep  the  pledge,  let  us  note  a  few  of  the 
recorded  instances  where  prayer  has  overcome  the  world, 
set  natural  laws  (as  they  are  called)  aside,  and  brought 
results  miraculous.  Even  the  wicked,  the  unbelieving, 
know  its  mysterious  power,  its  potent  energies.  It  is 
said  of  Queen  Bess — that  most  remarkable  English  mon- 
arch, Elizabeth — that  on  a  certain  occasion,  when  her 
empire  was  convulsed  and  shaken  to  its  very  foundation 
by  dissensions  without  and  within,  a  royal  courtier 
rushed  into  her  presence  without  asking  the  accustomed 
permission,  and  in  the  excitement  of  his  fear  told  her 
that  the  whole  Scotch  army  was  crossing  the  border, 
with  broad-sword  and  blazing  brand  in  hand,  to  lay  her 
country  waste,  and  that  her  majesty's  bowmen  were  not 
there  to  meet  them.  Having  thus  delivered  his  message 
of  fear,  he  waited  for  the  sovereign's  order.  But  she 
sat  unmoved,  nor  spoke,  until  the  faithful  servant,  over- 
come by  the  imminence  of  the  danger,  cried  out:  "The 
border  is  being  crossed  by  your  mortal  foe."  Then  the 
Queen  waived  him  aside  as  she  started  for  the  council 
chamber,  and  with  a  voice  that  showed  weakness  indeed, 
said :  "I  would  rather  know  of  the  whole  Scotch  army 
coming  across  the  border  with  broad-sword  and  blaz- 
ing brand  than  to  hear  of  old  John  Knox  on  his  knees 
praying."  What  an  admission  of  the  power  of  prayer. 
In  the  dim  distance  we  lack  not  "for  just  such  testimony. 

No  language  ever  portrayed  a  more  touching  scene 
than  that  recorded  of  Jacob  in  his  struggle  for  victory 
and  life.  He  knew  how  he  had  wronged  his  brother 
years  and  years  before.  Now  he  is  coming  face  to  face 
with  that  brother,  who  is  able  to  avenge  himself.  Know- 
ing and  feeling  all  this  he  took  himself  aside  from  all 
that  was  dear  to  him  on  earth.  In  the  darkness  of  night. 


64  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

he  crossed  the  ford  of  Jabbok,  and  there  wrestled  a  man 
with  him  until  the  break  of  day.  Jacob  was  made  a 
cripple.  The  agony  of  soul,  the  burden  on  the  mortal, 
was  such  as  man  had  never  known  before.  The  day  was 
coming  in  the  east  with  glory  on  its  brow.  The  strug- 
gling, wrestling  Jacob  had  not  during  that  dread  night 
learned  how  it  would  be  with  Esau,  and  he  said :  "Let 
me  go,  for  the  day  breaketh."  Then  cried  Jacob — cried 
only  as  a  soul  cries  that  must  have  help — "I  will  not  let 
thee  go  except  thou  bless  me."  That  was  victory,  for 
the  next  we  hear  is:  "What  is  thy  name?"  "Jacob." 
Then  the  angel  of  the  covenant  said:  "Thy  name  shall 
be  no  more  called  Jacob,  but  Israel,  for  as  a  prince  thou 
hast  power  with  God  and  with  man,  and  hast  conquered." 

THE  DANGER  OF  THE  LIQUOR  TRAFFIC. 

In  contemplating  the  manifold  dangers  inherent  in  the 
liquor  traffic,  and  which  flow  from  it,  we  shall,  of  course, 
constantly  keep  before  the  mind  the  ivrong,  the  sin  of  the 
traffic,  and  urge  as  the  surest  means  of  averting  the 
danger  and  escaping  the  ruin  and  death,  the  taking  and 
keeping  of  the  pledge. 

V. 

1.  The  liquor  traffic  is  dangerous  because  it  menaces 
civilization  and  is  the  mortal  enemy  of  Christianity.    The 
law  protecting  and  giving  legal  existence  to  the  liquor 
traffic  is  a  devilish  yahoo  who  takes  all  that  is  deformed 
in  man  and  energizes  it  until  every  passion  becomes  a 
genii.    These  demons  go  about  strong  in  the  support  of 
law,  dragging  to  death — not  only  temporal  but  eternal — 
all  on  whom  they  lay  their  infernal  hand.    The  legalized 
liquor  traffic  is  a  danger,  indeed. 

"It  is  a  strange,  a  woeful  sprite 
As  ever  frightened  human  sight." 

2.  The  danger  is  infinite,  because  the  liquor  traffic 
destroys     the     physical,  intellectual  and  moral  powers. 
Drunkenness  is  surely  burning  out  the  very  germs  of 
manhood,  permeating  the  coming  generations  with  the 
virus  of  death.     The  baleful  effects  are  becoming  here- 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  65 

ditary.  The  fearful  law  of  transmission  is  showing  itself 
in  the  degeneracy  of  the  race  wherever  intoxicants  are 
used.  A  high  medical  authority  says :  "The  vitality  and 
the  physical  and  mental  organization  of  the  infant  pro- 
ceed directly  from  the  parent." — H.  H.,  146.  In  regard 
to  drunkenness  the  transmited  virus  may  show  itself  in 
the  child,  grandchild  or  great-grandchild. 

"It  frequently  happens  that  the  sons  of  women  whose 
fathers  were  drunkards  will  show  especial  proclivities  to 
the  same  vice  while  there  has  been  no  such  manifesta- 
tions in  such  mothers." — T.  H.  Keckelu. 

He  further  says :  "A  parent  will  transmit  his  or  her 
own  peculiarities.  Much  will  depend  upon  the  condi- 
tion of  the  parents  at  the  time  the  life-impression  is 
given.  The  direct  influence  of  the  father  ceases  when 
this  is  accomplished.  It  is  the  actual  condition  at  the 
time  that  is  liable  to  be  conferred,  not  what  he  has  been. 
So,  if  intoxicated,  that  appetite  will  be  transmitted  to 
the  child."— H.  H.  V.,  48,  p.  146,  Oct.,  1869. 

To  this  may  be  added  the  instance  recorded  of  the 
child  born  of  a  drunken  mother  and  whose  father  was 
also  a  drunkard:  "After  being  drunken  almost  con- 
stantly during  gestation  the  mother  died  in  giving  birth 
to  the  child,  and  the  child  was  raised  by  the  tender  hand 
of  charity.  It  never  tasted  any  kind  of  intoxicants  dur- 
ing its  short  life,  yet  when  it  began  to  walk  it  staggered 
like  a  drunken  man,  just  as  its  mother  did,  and  so  stag- 
gered through  life.  At  the  age  of  nine  it  died,  having 
been  drunk  from  its  very  birth,  and  in  its  body  was  found 
alcohol." — Dr.  Diary. 

Here  is  what  another  says:  "The  parent  should  not 
look  in  malice  or  anger  on  their  child.  It  is  but  the  re- 
flex of  themselves.  The  drunken  parent  will  see  in  their 
child  the  same  stricken  thing,  a  duplicate  of  their  own 
unbridled  passions.  They  will  see  a  prodigy,  a  satire, 
a  hideous  mockery,  a  coarse  imitation  of  all  their  weak- 
ness, wickedness  and  crime." — Southworth. 

3.  It  is  dangerous  to  use  it  constantly,  for  that  de- 
feats its  use  as  a  medicine  (if  it  can  even  be  used  as 
such).  Here  is  what  Dr.  Glydon  says:  "It  is  a  well 
known  fact  that  the  habitual  use  of  stimulants  may  ren- 


66  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

der  null  and  void,  at  the  critical  moment,  the  very  medi- 
cine needed  to  save  life.  The  vital  organs  have  become 
dulled  by  abuse,  so  hardened  by  constant  use  of  stimu- 
lants, as  to  wholly  destroy  the  effect  of  medicine.  It 
was  this  that  took  the  Prince  of  Wales  down  to  the  very 
jaws  of  death.  Dr.  Glydon,  H.  H.  V.,  53,  69.  We  will 
note  a  fact  here  by  way  of  parenthesis :  We  are  aware 
that  there  are  a  class  of  (so-called)  physicians  who  stick 
to  the  Brunoman  theory  of  disease,  and  believe  alcohol 
to  be  a  panacea  for  all  ills.  Dr.  Brown,  founder  of  this 
system,  lectured  with  a  bottle  of  brandy  by  his  side, 
ruined  his  health  and  shortened  his  life  by  drink,  thus  in 
his  own  person  refuting  his  own  theory." — H.  H.  V., 

53,  75-  . 

The  liquor  traffic  is  dangerous  because  it  is  the  greatest 
social  evil  that  affects  the  human  race.  Sir  James  Green- 
wood says:  "Whatever  difference  of  opinion  of  other 
causes,  no  sane  man  will  contest  the  fact  that  drunken- 
ness has  wrought  more  mischief  than  all  other  social 
evils  put  together." — The  Seven  Curses,  82.  Again: 
"There  is  not  a  form  of  human  sin  and  sorrow  in  which 
it  does  not  play  a  part." — Seven  Curses. 

The  celebrated  Dr.  Guthrie,  of  London,  in  a  letter  to 
a  committee  of  the  House  of  Commons,  says:  "Believe 
me,  it  is  impossible  to  exaggerate,  impossible  truthfully 
to  paint  the  effect  of  this  evil  either  on  those  who  are 
addicted  to  it  or  those  who  suffer  from  it.  Crushed 
husbands,  broken-hearted  wives,  and  most  of  all  those 
poor,  innocent  children  that  are  dying  under  cruelty  and 
starvation,  that  walk  unshod  the  winter  snows,  and  with 
their  matted  hear  and  hollow  cheeks  and  sunken  eyes 
glare  out  on  us  wild  and  savage-like  from  patched  and 
filthy  windows.  Nor  is  the  curse  confined  to  the  lowest 
stratum  of  society.  It  has  cost  many  a  servant  her  place, 
and  yet  greater  loss,  her  virtue.  It  has  ruined  trades, 
despoiled  the  coronet  of  its  lustre,  and  damned  without 
number." — 7  Casey,  83. 

5.  The  liquor  traffic  is  dangerous  because  of  the  pois- 
onous adulterations  of  all  intoxicants.  The  belief  that 
there  is  now  any  such  thing  as  pure  liquors  is  a  myth. 
But  if  there  were,  what  of  it?  Nothing;  for  the  con- 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  67 

sequences  that  flowed  from  the  drinking  of  pure  liquors 
in  the  day  of  their  existence,  were  fearful  indeed.  And 
now,  when  we  add  to  this  dark  picture  this — the  drinking 
of  adulterated  liquors — and  they  are  all  the  kind  we  have 
— then  the  picture  becomes  a  widespread  ruin,  a  very 
valley  of  the  shadow  of  death.  Let  us  enumerate  some 
of  the  ingredients  with  which  the  beer  shop-keeper  re- 
brews  his  beer,  and  the  publican  doctor  his  gin  and  rum 
and  whisky.  We  abbreviate  from  the  work,  "The  Seven 
Curses  of  London": 

"The  most  common  way  of  adulterating  beer  is  by 
means  of  coculus  indicus.  This  is  known  in  the  trade  as 
'Indian  berry.'  It  is  the  fruit  that  grows  on  the  coast  of 
Malabar,  bitter  and  of  an  intoxicating  nature,  and  is  ex- 
tensively used  to  increase  the  intoxicating  qualities  of 
liquor.  It  is  a  poison. 

Fox  Glove  is  a  plant  possessing  an  intensely  bitter, 
nauseating  taste,  a  violent  purgative  and  vomit;  pro- 
duces languor,  giddiness,  and  even  death.  It  is  a  poison, 
and  is  used  as  an  adulterant  on  account  of  its  intoxicat- 
ing qualities,  which  it  imparts  to  the  liquors  with  which 
it  is  mixed. 

Green  Copperas,  a  mineral,  is  used  to  give  the  beer 
froth — a  "frothy  top," — and  adds  to  its  intoxicating 
qualities. 

Hartshorn.  The  scrapings  of  the  horns  of  the  com- 
mon male  deer.  It  is  used  to  mix  with  the  liquors  to  keep 
them  from  souring,  and  adds  to  their  hot,  burning  taste. 

Jalap.  Deriving  its  name  from  Xalapa  in  Mexico,  is 
a  convulvus  root,  nauseous,  and  is  a  powerful  purgative. 
Is  used  mainly  to  counteract  the  constipation  properties 
of  intoxicants. 

Nut-galls.  These  are  excresences  caused  to  grow  on 
trees  in  Asia,  Persia,  Syria,  etc.,  through  the  poison  of 
insects.  They  are  intensely  bitter,  and  are  used  much 
in  dyeing,  as  they  are  prolific  in  color;  are  used  to  give 
fineness  of  color  to  liquor. 

Nux  Vomica  is  a  seed  out  of  a  fruit  the  size  of  an 
orange.  It  is  an  inch  in  diameter  and  a  quarter  thick, 
has  no  smell,  is  a  violent,  acrid  narcotic  poison,  and  is  used 


68  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

extensively  in  the  manufacture  of  beer,  ale  and  porter, 
owing  to  its  intoxicating  properties. 

Opium.  The  thick  juice  of  the  white  poppy,  indi- 
genous to  India,  is  the  most  destructive  of  all  the  nar- 
cotic poisons,  and  it  is  the  most  intoxicating.  It  is  most 
freely  used  in  the  manufacture  of  liquors  because  its 
very  nature  is  to  yield  a  larger  quantity  of  intoxicating 
matter  than  any  other  vegetable. 

Oil  of  Vitriol  (sulphuric  acid)  is  a  poison  of  burning 
nature ;  is  used  to  increase  the  heating  qualities  of  liquors. 

Potash.  Made  of  vegetables  and  quick  lime.  This  is 
used  to  bring  the  beer  back — simply  to  sweeten  beer  after 
it  has  become  sour. 

Wortmvood.  The  seed  from  this  plant  is  bitter  and  in- 
toxicating; is  used  to  increase  the  stimulating  qualities 
of  the  liquor. 

Yew-tops.  The  leaves,  seeds  and  berries  are  exceed- 
ingly poisonous,  and  are  used  to  increase  the  intoxicating 

properties  of  the  liquor.    Thus  are  our  liquors  fixed. 

^f.        -jf.        -^        -j^         -jf.         ^        ^        -^ 

7.  The  liquor  traffic  is  dangerous  because  it  encour- 
ages the  use  of  intoxicants  as  a  medicine,  thereby  culti- 
vating a  taste  for  drinks,  which  may  ultimate  in  the  de- 
struction of  both  soul  and  body.  We  will  give  an  in- 
stance: Dr.  Munroe,  of  Hull,  England,  author  of  the 
medical  work,  "The  Physiological  Action  of  Alcohol," 
says:  "I  will  relate  a  circumstance  which  occurred  to 
me  several  years  ago,  and  which  made  a  deep  impression 
on  my  mind.  I  was  not  then  a  teetotaller — would  that 
I  had  been — but  I  conscientiously,  though  erroneously, 
believed  in  the  health-imparting  properties  of  stout.  A 
hard-working,  God-fearing  man,  a  teetotaller  of  some 
years  standing,  suffered  greatly  from  an  abscess  in  the 
hand.  He  asked  me  what  to  do.  I  told  him  to  rest  and 
take  something  to  remedy  the  waste  going  on.  I  told 
him  to  take  a  bottle  of  stout  daily.  He  said,  'I  cannot 
take  it,  for  I  have  been  a  teetotaller  for  many  years/ 
'Well,'  says  I,  'if  you  know  better  than  the  doctor,  it  is 
no  use  applying  to  me.'  He  looked  me  sorrowfully  in 
the  face  and  said :  'Doctor,  I  was  a  drunken  man  once ; 
I  should  not  like  to  be  one  again.'  It  was  much  against 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  69 

his  will  that  I  prevailed  on  him  to  take  the  stout.  When 
he  got  well  I  praised  up  the  stout  as  the  cause  of  saving 
his  life,  but  which  I  know  now  was  not  true.  I  lectured  him 
on  his  fanaticism,  his  teetotalism.  I  lost  sight  of  him 
for  years,  but  one  fine  summer  day,  when  driving  through 
one  of  our  thoroughfares,  I  saw  a  poor,  miserable,  ragged 
looking  man  leaning  against  the  door  of  a  public  house 
drunk,  and  incapable  of  standing  alone  unsupported.  I 
saw  in  a  moment,  although  much  changed,  that  it  was  my 
teetotaller  friend  whom  I  had  persuaded  to  break  his 
pledge.  Looking  at  him  earnestly  I  said,  'John,  is  that 
you?'  He  stared  at  me  in  a  leering  kind  of  a  way,  and 
said,  'Y-e-s,  it's  me.'  I  remarked,  'I  am  sorry  to  see  you 
in  this  drunken  condition,  I  thought  you  a  teetotaller.' 
He  gazed  at  me  in  a  way  I  shall  never  forget  and  said: 
'Doctor,  didn't  you  send  me  here  for  that  medicine?'  and 
then  with  a  kind  of  demoniac  chuckle,  more  like  a  fiend 
than  a  human,  he  uttered  in  such  a  startling  voice  as  to 
attract  a  crowd,  'Doctor,  your  medicine  cured  my  body 
as  you  said,  but  it  damned  my  soul.'  I  was  appalled;  I 
felt  in  some  measure  that  I  had  been  the  cause  of  his 
death,  temporal  and  eternal.  I  began  to  look  at  what  I 
had  done,  in  stirring  up  in  him  an  appetite  that  was  about 
to  ultimate  in  his  eternal  death.  Well,  he  went  on  down, 
down,  down ;  turned  out  of  church  in  which  once  he  was 
an  ornament,  his  life  blighted,  his  prospects  destroyed 
and  reduced  to  a  slave  of  passion  for  drink,  without 
mercy  and  without  hope.  Said  I :  can  that  be  a  medicine 
which  will  destroy  the  body  and  soul?  and  the  answer 
came  from  every  aspiration  of  my  nature,  no,  no,  no! 
The  whole  theory  is  wrong.  Can  you  wonder,  then,  that 
I  never  order  strong  drink  for  a  patient  now?" — 7  c.  L., 

84- 

8.  The  liquor  traffic  is  dangerous,  because  it  pro- 
motes drunkenness ;  drunkenness  is  aberration  and  con- 
stant drinking  ultimates  in  delirium,  and  finally  insanity. 
Says  a  noted  medical  writer:  "One  of  the  most  terrible 
results  of  drinking  is  the  inducing  of  that  kind  of  in- 
sanity which  takes  the  name  of  delirium  tremens."  He 
describes  this  insanity  thus:  "The  casualties  of  the  dis- 
ease are  convulsions,  coma,  which,  if  not  immediately 


70  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

fatal,  are  apt  to  leave  the  sufferer  a  wreck  for  the  re- 
mainder of  life." — 7  e.  L.,  90. 

********* 

9.  The  liquor  traffic  is  dangerous  because  it  creates 
an  appetite  which  at  last  becomes  irresistible.  We  would 
speak  now  briefly  of  the  pathological,  or,  as  it  is  called, 
the  proximate  cause  of  drunkenness.  No  impression 
from  any  source  can  affect  the  mind  except  through  the 
brain.  In  drunkenness,  therefore,  it  is  the  brain  that  is 
principally  affected.  It  is  only  through  a  healthy  brain 
that  healthy  manifestations  can  emanate.  Intoxicants 
destroy  the  cerebral  texture;  and  the  fact  is  now  well 
established  that  habitual  drunkards  have  always  more  or 
less  cerebral  disease.  And  so  this  voluntary  habit,  long 
indulged  in,  becomes  master,  and  overpowers  the  will  and 
forces  the  victim  down  to  death.  At  the  last  not  a  sound 
tissue  or  particle  of  flesh  can  be  found  from  the  sole  of 
the  foot  to  the  crown  of  the  head.  Read  this : 

"So  deplorably  common  has  drunkenness  been  in  this 
country  that  there  are  few  who  have  not  seen  the  melan- 
choly spectacle  of  the  most  powerful  motives,  the  most 
solemn  promises  and  resolutions,  a  constant  sense  of 
shame  and  danger,  the  prayers  and  supplications  of 
friendship,  availing  as  little  in  reforming  the  drunkard 
as  they  would  in  arresting  an  attack  of  fever  or  consump- 
tion. With  a  full  knowledge  of  the  dreadful  conse- 
quences to  fortune,  character  and  family,  he  plunges  on 
in  his  mad  career,  deploring,  it  may  be,  with  unutterable 
agony  of  spirit,  the  resistless  impulse  by  which  he  is 
mastered."— R.  J.  P.  I.,  550. 

At  this  point  comes  the  living  death  of  drunkenness — 
all  hope  is  gone,  the  will  is  dead;  the  fears  of  hell  have 
lost  all  terrors: 

"Heaven,  like  a  distant  dream, 

Stirs  not  heart  or  soul, 
And  ringing,  ringing,  ringing  out, 

Eternal  death  cries,  'Come.'  " 

McManish  says :  "A  young  man  of  26  years,  dead  to 
hope,  every  morning  before  breakfast  drank  a  quart  of 
brandy,  another  before  dinner,  and  a  third  before  retir- 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  71 

ing.  He  had  began  to  drink  at  sixteen  and  at  twenty-six 
the  habit  had  become  a  disease.  In  vain  did  he  try  to 
resist  the  insidious  passion.  With  a  perfect  conscious- 
ness that  he  was  destroying  himself,  and  with  every  de- 
sire to  struggle  against  the  demands  of  appetite,  he  found 
it  impossible  to  offer  the  slightest  opposition.  The  sor- 
row of  a  heart-broken  wife,  the  tears  of  a  loving  child, 
the  prayers  of  a  dying  mother;  neither  the  joys  of  life, 
nor  the  loss  of  heaven,  could  save.  In  frenzy  he  cried 
for  drink,  and  when  urged  by  every  consideration  of  love 
to  God  and  humanity,  to  turn  from  his  self-destruction, 
he  replied  to  all,  in  the  language  of  a  confirmed  diunk- 
ard :  'Give  me  brandy ;  I  am  willing  to  endure  the  pains 
of  hell  for  it.'  " 

"The  appetite  once  formed  becomes  a  moral  mania 
that  cannot  be  resisted.  The  will  has  been  broken  and 
rendered  incapable  of  volition.  Esquirol  has  treated  of 
dipsomania  caused  by  pathological  changes  in  the  use  of 
intoxicating  liquors,  where  the  unhappy  victims  were  not 
morally  responsible  for  their  then  acts,  because  by  a  long 
habit  of  drink,  they  had  created  a  craving  for  drink  im- 
perious and  irresistible." — R.  J.  P.  I.,  552. 

Ah!  how  true  is  this:  "The  first  drink  is  the  deadly 
hemlock  which  leads  to  the  murder  of  soul  and  body." 
"One  glass  calls  for  more,"  is  the  maxim  of  the  disciples 
of  Bacchus.  And  this :  "The  way  to  become  a  drunkard 
is  to  begin  to  drink." — K. 

In  our  unhappy  day,  when  the  liquor  traffic  is  used  as 
the  crown  jewel  from  which  to  derive  revenue  to  support 
civilization,  our  women  are  contracting  this  habit — cre- 
ating this  appetite — are  becoming  drunkards.  This  in- 
stance of  a  girl,  and  it  is  but  one  of  many  furnished  us : 

"This  girl  would,  upon  the  slightest  cross  or  disap- 
pointment, begin  to  drink  and  go  on  till  so  overcome  as 
to  be  wholly  oblivious,  and  her  appetite  was  resistless 
when  the  mania  was  upon  her." — M.,  125. 

"The  drunkenness  in  high  life  in  our  cities  among  the 
women  is  appalling." — T.  O.  V.,  79. 

10.  The  liquor  traffic  is  dangerous  because  it  destroys 
our  statesmen  and  the  distinguished  among  us.  We  have 
witnessed  the  sad  sight  of  a  drunken  president  drivelling 


72  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

the  silly  vaporings  of  a  drunkard  in  the  presence  of 
the  titled  representatives  of  the  governments  of  the 
world.  No  class  of  officials,  sacred  or  secular,  has  es- 
caped the  blight  of  drink;  and  since  the  legalization  of 
the  traffic  the  scourge  in  high  places  has  increased.  No 
station  in  life  is  too  low  for  it,  none  too  high.  A  dis- 
tinguished senator,  in  speaking  of  the  enervating  effect 
of  strong  drink,  says: 

"The  very  first  to  break  down  and  give  out — cave  in — 
are  the  men  who  stimulate." — H.  H.,  53. 

Some  of  the  brightest  names  of  our  history  have  fallen 
victims  to  strong  drink.  Vice-president  Wilson  says: 

"In  this  country,  and  in  this  age  of  light,  we  have  an 
army  of  five  hundred  thousand  drunkards ;  fifty  thousand 
of  this  number  annually  sink  into  drunkards'  graves.  An 
army  of  half  million  in  Christian  America.  How  fear- 
ful the  thought,  how  appalling  the  spectacle !" — F.  S.,  43. 

This  appalling  spectacle,  as  the  distinguished  vice- 
president  calls  it,  has  been  personified  in  language  as 
tragic  as  any  of  Webster's  by  a  dying  man — one  whose 
young  life  was  crushed  out  by  delirium  tremens.  He  was 
a  bright  star,  a  brilliant  genius,  poetic,  scholarly  and 
noble  of  soul.  And  but  for  the  vice  of  drunkenness — 
the  curse  that  is  destroying  the  world — would  today  be 
a  living  gladness  among  us.  Here  are  his  last  utter- 
ances : 

"This  sea  of  legal  death  has  become  a  cauldron. 
Bubbling,  bubbling  forever. 
The  dying  victims  rise  from  its  turgid  depths 
Shaking  their  gory  locks ; 

Then  hell,  in  hideous  clamor  join,  and  taunting  cry — 
Semper,  thanatos  mock."  J.  W. 

II.  The  liquor  traffic  is  dangerous  because  it  destroys 
our  wealth.  Much  has  been  shown  of  its  -waste.  So  de- 
tails will  not  be  given  here.  Remember  that  the  annual 
cost,  as  shown,  is  $2,550,000,000  in  this  country.  In  the 
city  of  New  York,  in  the  single  year  1878,  $60,000,000 
were  spent  for  intoxicating  drinks.  In  1877  a  distinguished 
Lord  shows  that  for  intoxicating  drinks  in  the  British 
Isles,  more  than  $700,000,000  were  expended  in  a  year. 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  73 

This  was  more  than  $20  to  every  man,  woman  and  child 
in  the  Kingdom;  and  this  was  for  the  liquor  drank  by 
the  common  people,  and  does  not  include  those  drank 
by  the  aristocratic  and  upper  classes,  they  drinking  wine, 
etc.,  which  cost  a  much  larger  sum  during  the  year. 
Gerrett  Smith,  a  few  years  ago,  when  in  Richmond,  said 
to  the  colored  people:  "If  you  will  not  drink  a  drop  of 
liquor  for  thirty  years,  I  will  guarantee  that  you  will  own 
half  the  land  in  Virginia." — [H.  V.,  53,  135.  Mr.  Greeley, 
just  before  he  died,  said:  ''That  during  the  forty  years 
he  had  lived  in  New  York  the  poorer  classes  of  the 
working  people  had  spent  enough  for  whisky  to  have 
given  them  half  the  property  in  the  city." — [Tribune. 

12.  The  liquor  traffic  is  dangerous  because  it  corrupts 
the  ballot-box  and  demoralizes  our  politics.  J.  G.  Gurney 
once  said  that  "a  pint  of  whisky  in  a  politician's  hand 
on  election  day  would  control  more  votes  than  a  pint  of 
brains  in  a  sober  man's  head."  Daniel  Webster,  although 
addicted  to  the  fearful  vice,  said  in  a  speech  in  1835 : 
"Intoxicating  liquors  are  a  danger  to  the  ballot-box,  a 
menace  to  our  institutions  without  an  equal."  And  yet 
we  are  told  to  keep  temperance  out  of  politics — that  it  is 
a  moral  question.  Well,  we  will  consent  to  keep  tem- 
perance out  of  politics — //  the  other  side  will  keep  intem- 
perance out.  Dr.  Dick  says:  "When  intemperance  pre- 
vails a  barrier  is  interposed  to  every  attempt  to  raise 
man  from  the  moral  and  intellectual  degradation  into 
which  he  has  sunk ;  and  where  it  is  so,  no  power  can 
irradiate  his  mind  with  knowledge.  With  his  passions 
stimulated,  his  moral  powers  enervated,  he  has  no  faculty 
for  self-government,  and  is  dangerous  to  society." — 
[V.  L,  28. 

The  debauchery  of  our  times,  the  corruption  of  our 
ballot-box,  are  proof  beyond  cavil  of  this  truth.  In 
large  cities  the  elective  franchise  is  no  better  than  a 
farce.  Drunkenness  has  turned  this  highest  privilege  of 
a  freeman  into  a  two-edged  sword  that  is  being  used  by 
bad  men  to  cut  down  and  destroy  forever  self-govern- 
ment. The  scenes  often  occurring  in  the  two  houses  of 
congress  are  sickening  to  think  of.  In  July,  1878,  six- 
teen senators,  in  a  public  place,  were  drunk  at  one  time, 


74  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

and  four  times  that  number  of  representatives  were  under 
the  influence  of  strong  drink.  A  noted  writer  for  one 
of  the  largest  journals  in  the  country,  says :  "Drunken- 
ness is  proving  the  cause  of  death  to  many  congress- 
men."— G.  &  T. 

13.  The  liquor  traffic  is  dangerous  because  it  pro- 
duces eighty-seven  per  cent,  of  the  crime  of  the  whole 
country.     And  to  punish  this  legally  produced   crime, 
fifty  per  cent,  of  the  cost  of  maintaining  the  courts  is 
expended. 

14.  The  liquor  traffic  is  dangerous  because  it  pro- 
duces more  misery  than  all  the  other  crimes  combined. 
The  suffering  of  women  and  children,  brought  on  them 
by  it,  no  pen  can  describe.     The  misery  in  the  world 
to-day,  by  this  dragon  of  death,  drapes  all  heaven  in 
black,  and  stirs  to  wild  outbreak  the  deep  chambers  of 
hell.    This  curse  is  insatiable.    The  soul  is  ruined  by  it, 
and  death  crowned  a  king.    The  grave  is  robbed  of  hope, 
and  on  the  fretted  arch  of  the  celestial  its  endless  work 
is  written:     NO  DRUNKARD  SHALL  INHERIT  THE  KING- 
DOM OF  GOD. 

15.  Finally,  the  liquor  traffic  is  dangerous  because  it 
is  in  direct  violation  of  the  commands  of  God.     This  is 
its  great,  its  infinite  danger.    That  which  violates  moral 
law  is  wrong — is  crime  of  the  highest  degree.     But  that 
which  is  allowed  by  custom  and  law  of  the  creature, 
which  is  directly  prohibited  by  the  CREATOR,  is  sin — deep 
and  deadly  sin,  and  brings  a  ruin  temporal  and  eternal. 
Such  a  sin  is  the  legalized  liquor  traffic  of  modern  civil- 
ization. 


THIRTY  YEARS  CONFLICT. 

THE    DICTATION    OF    1850    REPEATED    IN    l88o. 

A  brief  review  of  this,  marked  "Thirty  Years,"  we 
will  now  give. 

The  year  1850  was  memorial ;  none  like  it  before,  in 
our  history.  The  great  statesmen,  Whig  and  Democratic, 
met  in  the  capacity  of  compromisers. 

They  attempted  to  blend  in  one  ornate  setting  liberty 
and  slavery.  They  failed. 

They  believed  that  the  tinsel  touches  of  the  hyperian 
beauty  could  be  interwoven  with  the  discordant  colorings 
of  pandemonium,  so  as  to  make  all  attractive.  They 
were  mistaken. 

They  strove  to  make  the  fruit  of  freedom  grow  on 
the  tree  of  bondage.  They  did  not  succeed. 

They  taught  that  the  crying  of  the  woman  who  was 
compelled  to  become  a  mother  without  being  a  wife, 
would  harmonize  sweetly  with  the  songs  of  Heaven. 
Their  teaching  was  a  lie! 

And  now  remember  the  dark  results  of  the  voting 
hiatus  of  1880  "is  a  deeper  cut  in  the  heart  of  labor  than 
was  the  legislation  of  1850." — H. 

Of  the  Compromise,  it  was  said  by  that  New  England 
divine,  Elnathan  Davis: 

"A  forced  embrace  by  the  black  ghoul  of  slavery,  of 
the  Goddess  of  Liberty,  and  her  resisting  it,  will  cause 
the  blood  to  flow  in  this  land  till  the  ground  is  made 
rich  by  the  red  effusion." — Sermon  in  M.  C. 

The  matchless  genius  of  Henry  Clay  was  expended, 
to  exhaustion,  in  getting  the  measure  through  Congress. 
It  was  a  measure  of  fearful  import — the  mightiest  mis- 
take of  statesmanship  known  in  time.  The  blind  leading 
the  blind,  for  a  century,  on  the  slavery  question,  made 
such  a  mistake  possible. 

And  like  all  agreements  with  wrong,  like  all  com- 
promises with  sin,  it  was  to  be  a  finality — it  was  to  fill  up 

75 


76  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

the  vacant  niche  in  the  Temple  of  Time,  on  that  subject, 
so  that  never  again  "should  a  dog  wag  his  tongue." 
Never  again  should  the  question  of  slavery  be  touched. 

"It  was  settled,"  so  Mr.  Clay  declared. 

"No  more  agitation,"  rang  the  voice  of  Mr.  Yancy. 

"Let  him  be  anathama  who  says  that  slavery  is  but 
divine,"  was  the  dulcet  speech  of  Mr.  Mason. 

"Woe  to  him  that  buildeth  a  city  in  blood,"  swelled 
out  from  that  then  despised  name — Garrison. 

"There  was  silence  in  Heaven,  and  jubilees  in  hell," 
was  uttered  by — H. 

The  Compromise  measures  included  six  items:  I. 
Establishing  the  Northwest  boundary  of  Texas.  2.  Es- 
tablishing a  Territorial  government  for  New  Mexico. 
3.  Establishing  a  Territorial  government  for  Utah.  4. 
The  admission  of  California.  5.  The  passage  of  the 
Fugitive  Slave  Law.  6.  The  suppression  of  slavery  in 
the  District  of  Columbia. 

Upon  the  passage  of  this  bill  there  was  a  storm  of 
indignation  at  the  North  and  much  dissatisfaction  at  the 
South.  But,  it  was  called  the  great  compromise.  All 
agitation  was  to  stop  on  the  question  of  slavery. 

Thus  they  talked.  The  two  old  parties,  the  Whigs  and 
Democrats,  having  joined  hands  in  sin,  both  bowed  in 
abjectness  to  their  god — slavery. 

There  was  a  third  party  that  did  not  bow — the  Liberty 
Party. 

That  party  talked  about  slavery,  and  for  its  talking 
got  many  a  free  "ride  on  a  rail." 

William  L.  Yancy  said:  "The  slavery  question  is 
settled,  and  there  is  to  be  no  more  agitation.  He  who 
would  agitate  deserves  to  be  shot." — His  letter  to  Hatch. 

Wm.  Lloyd  Garrison  categorically  asked  him:  "You 
say  the  question  is  settled,  and  there  is  to  be  no  more 
agitation,  and  he  who  would  agitate  deserves  to  be  shot." 
"Sir;  the  question  is  no^v  infinitely  unsettled;  the  agita- 
tion has  only  just  begun — let  the  bullets  come,  they  will 
settle  it." — His  Colloquy  with  Coffeen. 

The  Abolitionist — the  third  party — said:  "Let  the 
agitation  go  on,  truth  will  take  care  of  itself." 

Calvin  Fletcher  said:    "There  shall  be  neither  slavery 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  77 

or  involuntary  servitude  in  the  United  States,  except  for 
the  punishment  of  crime  whereof  the  party  is  duly  con- 
victed."— Letter  to  Inman. 

He  was  denounced  as  fanatical  and  criminal.  The 
spirit  of  arrogance  on  the  part  of  slavery,  was  fearful  to 
contemplate. 

Wm.  H.  Seward  wrote:  "I  fear  the  encroachments 
of  slavery.  The  Compromises  are  but  a  pretext.  That 
power  will  claim  that  it  shall  own  labor,  and  the  issue 
will  become  "irrepressible." — Letter  to  Heckman. 

This  letter  came  to  light  through  A.  C.  Bell,  and  found 
way  to  the  fruitful  pen  of  Stringfellow,  and  so  enraged 
him  that  he  hurled  back  upon  Mr.  Seward  this  bit  of 
rhetoric : 

"All  who  labor  for  their  daily  bread,  or  who  are  de- 
pendent on  their  labor  for  subsistence,  are  slaves.  All 
females  who  labor  for  their  dajly  bread  are  whores." — 
G.  W.  p.  432. 

Stephen  A.  Douglas,  although  of  the  North,  bowed 
before  this  spirit  of  arrogance,  and  in  order  to  reach,  if 
possible,  his  highest  ambition — the  presidency — by  con- 
ciliating slavery,  used  this  language,  "I  hold  that  this 
government  was  made  on  the  white  basis  by  white  men 
for  the  benefit  of  white  men,  and  their  posterity  forever, 
and  should  be  administered  by  white  men  and  none 
others.  I  do  not  believe  the  Almighty  made  the  negro 
capable  of  self-government." — His  speech  at  Selma. 

These  compromise  measures,  "which  were  supported 
by  the  leading  advocates  in  Congress,  as  a  finality,  were 
but  a  pretext  to  further  and  strengthen  the  more  devilish 
enactments  of  the  slave  power." — Lovejoy. 

So  it  may  be  remarked  that  when  we  come  to  look  at 
the  insidious  actions  of  the  money  power,  that  it  too  intro- 
duces monstrous  measures  to  settle  differences  of  opinion 
(as  the  Act  of  March  18,  1869),  but  it  is  a  mere  pretext, 
an  entrance  wedge  to  still  further  and  more  devilish  raids 
upon  the  rights  of  man  to  earn  his  bread  by  the  sweat 
of  his  brow. 

Remember  this,  in  1852  the  Democratic  party  was  the 
avowed  champion  of  the  slave  power.  But  the  Whig 
party  was  more  than  willing  to  do  its  bidding.  The  con- 


78  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

ventions  met  to  put  candidates  in  the  field  for  President. 
Pierce  was  chosen  by  the  Democracy,  a  man  of  the  North, 
unknown  to  fame,  "but  his  trainers  knew  him  well." — 
Phillips. 

The  platform  said  in  effect:  "No  more  tinkering  with 
the  slavery  question."  The  let  alone  policy  was  fully 
adopted.  The  Whigs  put  up  that  great  name,  General 
Scott,  and  said  in  their  platform,  "No  more  agitation  of 
the  slavery  question." 

Horace  Greeley  said:  "I  spit  on  the  platform,  but 
endorse  the  man." 

The  slave  power  was  then  also  the  money  power. 

Three  billion,  five  hundred  million  dollars  in  slaves 
gave  it  a  power  so  potent,  that  it  could  take  a  Free  Son 
of  the  North,  turn  him  into  a  bass-wood  man,  put  a 
dough  face  upon  him,  and  he  would  bow  as  abjectly  to 
the  oligarchy  of  the  lash  as  does  the  Hindoo  devotee  to 
the  grinning  idol  of  his  worship. 

And  let  it  be  remembered  that  the  campaign  of  1852, 
by  the  Whig  and  Democratic  parties,  was  conducted 
much  the  same  as  the  campaign  of  1880  was  conducted 
by  the  two  old  parties,  Republican  and  Democratic. 

In  1852,  both  parties  ignored  all  discussion  on  living 
issues,  and  talked  about  things  that  were  "settled."  So 
did  the  two  old  parties  in  1880,  ignore  all  discussion  on 
living  issues  and  talked  about  things  "settled." 

A  distinguished  Congressman  from  Michigan  said  in 
1879:  "that  any  man  who  would  disturb,  by  agitation, 
the  financial  question,  which  was  settled,  ought  to  be 
hung." — Burrows. 

The  third  party  in  both  cases — the  Liberty  party  in 
1852  and  the  Greenback  party  in  1880,  "agitated."  The 
former  the  wrongs  of  slavery,  and  the  latter  the  wrongs 
of  a  false  and  murderous  financial  system.  Both  were 
abused  as  agitators,  disturbers  of  the  peace,  and  were 
called  fools  and  knaves. 

The  Whig  party  died,  notwithstanding  the  great  name 
that  led  it.  The  reason  was,  the  slave  power  had  got  the 
legislation  it  wanted,  as  far  as  it  had  gone,  from  the 
Democratic  party,  and  it  was  willing  to  trust  that  party 
for  whatever  more  it  wanted.  And  so  the  Whig  party, 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  79 

although  bidding  with  all  its  power,  was  left,  as  not  being 
worthy  to  carry  out  the  programme  of  the  slave  power. 

And  the  analogy  holds  good  in  1880,  as  applied  to  the 
Democratic  party.  It  begged  with  all  its  might  to  be 
permitted  to  carry  out  the  financial  schemes  of  the  Re- 
publican party. 

But  the  money  power  had  got  the  legislation  it  wanted, 
as  far  as  it  had  gone,  from  the  Republican  party,  and  it 
was  willing  to  trust  that  party  for  whatever  more  it 
wanted.  And  so  the  Democratic  party,  although  bidding 
with  abject  devotion  to  be  put  in  power,  was  left  to  die. 

The  slave  power  of  1852,  after  the  demise  of  the  Whig 
party,  became  the  party  of  proscription  and  dictation. 

The  Republican  party  of  1880,  now  that  the  Democratic 
party  is  dead,  shows  the  same  spirit  of  presumption  and 
devotion  to  the  money  power,  that  the  Democracy  did  to 
slavery,  and  is  likely  to  become  as  wicked,  and  ripen  as 
fully  into  the  tyrant. 

Two  years  from  the  compromise  measures  dragged 
slowly  by,  and  1852  came,  black  with  portents,  and  set  a 
new  devil  loose,  who  turned  a  worse  than  the  flame- 
tailed  foxes  of  Philista  among  our  political  corn-fields. 

Senator  Douglas  brought  forward  a  bill  to  organize 
the  territories  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska.  In  speaking  of 
the  bill,  the  erratic  Linder  said:  "If  all  the  powder  in 
creation  had  been  emptied  into  Kimberazo,  it  would  not 
have  produced  a  greater  physical  explosion  than  the 
moral  upheaval  which  followed  the  passage  of  the  Ne- 
braska bill."  The  bill  repealed  the  old  time-honored 
"Missouri  Compromise"  of  1820,  with  its  broad  rich 
utterances  in  favor  of  liberty. 

"North  of  thirty-six  degrees  and  thirty  minutes,  there 
shall  be  neither  slavery  or  involuntary  servitude,  except 
for  the  punishment  of  crime,  whereof  the  party  is  duly 
convicted." 

This  stirred  the  North  to  its  depths  and  from  that  hour 
till  the  almost  inspired  words  of  Lincoln  were  fulfilled, 
not  a  moment  of  peace  was  found  in  this  great  land. 

The  martyred  President  said:  "Until  the  people  are 
assured  that  slavery  has  been  put  in  course  of  final  ex- 
tinction they  will  not  be  satisfied." — Letter  to  Campbell. 


8o  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

This  was  the  view  on  freedom's  side.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  South  said : 

"There  is  not  a  slave-holder  in  this  House  or  out  of  it, 
but  who  knows  perfectly  well  that  whenever  slavery  is 
confined  within  certain  limits,  its  future  existence  is 
doomed.  It  is  in  view  of  these  things,  sir,  that  the  people 
of  Georgia  have  assembled  in  convention,  and  solemnly 
resolved  that  if  Congress  shall  pass  a  law  excluding  them 
from  the  common  Territories  with  their  slave  property, 
they  will  disrupt  the  ties  that  bind  them  to  the  Union." — 
G.  W.  p.  455- 

It  was  during  these  halcyon  days  that  the  commercial 
journals  said: 

"The  grandest  cotton  crop  ever  raised.  It  will  lift  the 
South  out  of  debt,  and  an  era  of  prosperity  unsurpassed, 
will  follow." — New  York  Journal  of  Commerce. 

Mr.  Love  joy  asked: 

"Did  a  great  cotton  crop  ever  give  a  night's  better  rest 
to  a  plantation  hand,  or  add  a  mite  of  wealth  to  the  toiling 
bondsmen  and  women?" 

It  was  answered  back  by  a  paper  in  New  England. 

"The  slave  is  fed  and  cared  for  by  the  master  and  the 
products  of  his  labor  belong  to  the  owner,  and  this  is  the 
place  they  were  designed  to  fill." — Boston  Journal. 

How  exactly  the  spirit  of  that  utterance  fits  into  this — 

"The  era  of  prosperity  now  enjoyed  was  scarcely  ever 
known  before.  Capital  is  employed  so  as  to  aggregate 
in  its  accumulations  a  greater  per  cent,  than  ever  known 
and  fortunes  are  made  in  a  decade,  that  it  took  ten  to 
accomplish  in  the  ages  past." — Quimby's  letter  on  banks. 

Let  us  ask  this  bank  champion,  how  is  labor  affected 
by  the  "era  of  prosperity  ?"  Is  "labor  so  employed  as  to 
aggregate  in  its  accumulations"  a  greater  per  cent,  than 
ever  before  ?  Can  "labor"  now,  in  a  "decade"  accomplish 
what  in  times  past,  it  took  "ten"  to  do  ? 

How  are  the  toilers  prospering  amid  this  hallelujah  of 
the  business  boom?  This  will  tell  you — 

"The  American  laborer  must  make  up  his  mind  hence- 
forth not  to  be  so  much  better  off  than  the  European 
laborer.  Men  must  be  content  to  work  for  less  wages. 
In  this  way  the  workingman  will  be  nearer  that  station  in 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  81 

life  to  which  it  has  pleased  God  to  call  him." — New  York 
Daily  World. 

"The  man  who  cannot  live  on  bread  and  water  is  not 
fit  to  live.  A  family  may  live  on  good  bread  and  water 
in  the  morning,  and  bread  at  midday,  and  good  bread  and 
water  at  night." — Henry  Ward  Beecher. 

We  have  seen  that  the  Compromise  measures,  instead 
of  being  a  "finality,"  as  was  their  claim,  they  were  but 
the  index  to  the  book  of  wrong  to  be  written  in  blood. 

Governor  Morton  said : 

"It  was  thought  slavery  could  be  settled  by  compromise 
in  1850.  And  in  1852  the  two  parties  acquiesced  in  that 
thought,  and  the  Whig  party  ceased  to  be  a  factor  in 
politics. 

"In  1854  Mr.  Douglas  introduced  his  famous  Ne- 
braska bill,  and  it  became  the  germ  of  an  agitation  un- 
paralleled in  history.  I  became  convinced  that  the  living 
issue  was  to  control  the  arrogant  pretensions  of  the  slave 
power.  To  do  this,  a  new  party  is  necessary,  and  there- 
fore I  go  with  the  new  and  coming  party." — Letter  to 
Col.  Meredith. 

The  analogy  holds  good  for  our  times.  In  1875  the 
resumption  act  passed,  to  be  carried  out  as  a  part  of  the 
financial  scheme.  It  had  four  years  to  run,  maturing 
in  operation  in  1879.  ^n  1880  both  parties  acquiesced  in 
that  "finality." 

They  said: 

"Let  well  enough  alone,"  "hands  off,"  "it  is  settled," 
etc. 

The  new  party — Greenbackers — said : 

"The  living  issue  is  to  check  the  arrogant  pretensions 
of  the  money  power.  And  to  do  this,  a  new  party  is  a 
necessity." 

And  now,  remember,  by  '82  the  agitation  will  have 
increased  so  as  to  be  unparalleled  in  history.  The  haughty 
demeanor  of  the  Republican  party  is  a  warning  that 
should  not  go  unheeded. 

As  illustrative  of  the  spirit  of  the  times  and  the  over- 
bearing dominancy  of  slavery  in  its  day,  the  following 
choice  morsels  are  submitted : 

Specimens  coming  from  the  leaders  of  the  slave  power : 


82  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

"Will  you  repeal  the  Missouri  Compromise?"  "Yes." 
"And  by  so  doing  violate  the  Compromise  measures  of 
1850?"  "Yes,  I  would  sooner  see  the  whole  of  Nebraska 
a  hundred  times  in  the  bottom  of  hell,  than  to  see  it  a  free 
State."— Dr.  Warren,  G.  W.  458. 

Mr.  Seward  said  in  his  New  York  speech : 

"Sir,  they  cannot  do  it.  The  leaders  may  desire  the 
repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  but  this  country  has 
not  yet  sunk  to  that  depth  of  degradation." — S.  in  1853, 
'N.  Y. 

But  the  "leaders"  had  their  way.  So  here  again  the 
analogy  between  the  slave  power  and  the  money  power 
meet. 

The  "leaders"  of  the  money  aristocracy  wanted  the 
terms  of  payment  of  the  five-twenty  bonds  changed.  They 
put  their  design  under  the  guise  of  the  "public  honor," 
the  "public  credit,"  etc.,  and  a  great  name  said,  "Sir, 
they  cannot  do  it." — /.  R.  Giddings  in  letter  to  Seaboro. 

"The  bonds  at  the  end  of  five  years  should  be  paid  in 
greenbacks  and  the  interest  stopped.  This  is  not  doing 
wrong  to  the  bondholder,  and  it  is  doing  right  to  the 
soldier  and  the  whole  country." — A.  Lincoln  in  letter  to 
General  Waggoner. 

"Yours  of  the  8th  inst.  is  received,  and  I  most  cor- 
dially agree  with  every  word  and  sentence  of  it.  I  am  for 
the  laboring  portion  of  our  people — the  rich  can  take  care 
of  themselves.  While  I  most  scrupulously  live  up  to  all 
the  contracts  of  the  government  and  fight  repudiation  to 
the  death,  I  will  fight  the  bondholder  as  resolutely,  when 
he  undertakes  to  get  more  than  his  pound  of  flesh.  We 
never  agreed  to  pay  the  5-20  bonds  in  gold,  no  man  can 
find  it  in  the  bond,  and  I  never  will  consent  to  have  one 
payment  for  the  bondholder,  and  another  for  the  people. 
It  would  sink  any  party,  and  it  ought  to.  To  talk  of 
specie  payments  or  a  return  to  specie  under  present  cir- 
cumstances, is  to  talk  like  a  fool.  It  would  destroy  the 
country  as  effectually  as  a  fire,  and  any  contraction  of 
the  currency  at  this  time  is  about  as  bad." — Ben  Wade 
in  letter  to  A.  Denny. 

"I  say  that  equity  and  justice  are  amply  satisfied  if  we 
redeem  these  bonds  at  the  end  of  five  years,  in  the  same 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  83 

kind  of  money  of  the  same  intrinsic  value  it  bore  at  the 
time  they  were  issued.  Gentlemen  may  reason  about  the 
matter  over  and  over  again,  and  they  cannot  come  to  any 
other  conclusion,  at  least,  that  has  been  my  conclusion 
after  the  most  careful  deliberation.  Senators  are  some- 
times in  the  habit,  in  order  to  defeat  the  argument  of  an 
antagonist,  to  say  this  is  repudiation.  Why,  every  State 
in  the  Union,  without  exception,  has  made  its  contracts 
since  the  legal  tender  clause,  in  currency,  and  paid  them 
in  currency." — John  Sherman  in  U.  S.  S. 

"If  under  the  law  as  it  stands,  the  bondholder  can  de- 
mand only  the  kind  of  money  he  paid,  he  is  a  repudiator 
and  an  extortioner  to  demand  money  more  valuable  than 
he  gave." — John  Sherman  in  letter  to  Mann. 

It  is  seen  by  the  controversy  that  the  "leaders"  of  the 
money  power  "got"  what  they  wanted.  In  the  language 
of  Mr.  Giddings: 

"Had  their  own  way  in  everything  they  asked  for." — 
/.  R.  Giddings'  conversation  with  Sheldon. 

In  further  controversy  we  shall  see  that  the  spirit  of 
dictation  knew  no  bounds. 

Early  as  June,  1854,  a  large  meeting  was  held  in 
Leavenworth  to  give  "expression"  as  it  was  heralded,  and 
here  is  the  "expression": 

"Resolved,  That  we  shall  give  no  protection  to  aboli- 
tionists in  Kansas  Territory. 

''Resolved,  That  in  Kansas  abolitionists  need  not  set 
their  feet.  It  is  decreed  by  the  people,  who  live  adjacent, 
that  their  institutions  are  to  be  established  there. 

"They,  abolitionists,  must  be  met,  if  need  be,  with  the 
rifle.  We  must  meet  them  at  the  very  threshold  and 
scourge  them  back  to  their  caverns  of  darkness.  They 
have  made  the  issue,  and  it  is  for  us  to  meet  and  repel 
them  even  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet." — G.  W.  p.  459. 

More  than  this,  the  devilish  old  slave  power,  then 
through  its  representative  men,  its  "leaders,"  struck  at 
the  ballot  box  in  the  hands  of  laboring  men,  as  does  the 
devilish  money  power,  now  through  its  representative 
men,  its  "leaders,"  strike  at  the  ballot  box  in  the  hands 
of  laboring  men. 

Here  is  what  the  slave  power  said: 


84  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

"If  any  of  the  20,000  abolitionists,  spoken  of  by  Holly, 
should  be  so  lucky  as  to  set  foot  in  the  Territory  (Kan- 
sas) previous  to  the  adoption  of  its  Constitution,  no  ballot 
box  at  any  precinct  within  its  borders  would  be  allowed 
to  be  polluted  by  the  introduction  of  a  nigger  vote." — 
G.  W.  p.  460. 

This  was  a  proclamation  by  the  slave  power  against 
the  "nigger" — black  laborer. 

Here  is  what  the  money  power  said : 

"If  these  men  persist,  and  attempt  to  force  their  green- 
back money  upon  capitalists  by  the  ballot,  then  we  will 
take  the  ballot  from  them,  if  we  have  to  use  the  bayonet 
to  do  it! — Rev.  Cook,  in  Boston. 

The  President  elect  used  language  about  as  infamous, 
in  regard  to  the  greenback,  utterly  denying  that  it  was 
money.  He  bowed  and  kissed  the  very  toe  of  the  money 
power,  and  bid  for  its  support,  with  a  devotion  that  no 
other  man  has  been  able  to  equal. 

"I  want  it  remembered  in  the  outset,  that  the  greenback 
currency  was  and  is  so  known  in  the  courts,  and  so 
known  everywhere,  a  forced  loan,  a  loan  forced  by  the 
government  upon  its  army  and  upon  its  other  creditors, 
to  meet  the  great  emergencies  of  the  war." — /.  A.  Gar- 
field's  speech  in  Congress,  1878. 

Thus  he  bid  for  the  presidency  and  got  it.  He  denied 
the  law  of  his  country,  and  the  decisions  of  the  court  of 
last  resort. 

"United  States  notes  shall  be  lawful  money  and  legal 
tender  for  all  debts  except  the  interest  on  the  public  debt 
and  duties  on  imports." — R.  S.  U.  S.,  Sec.  3,  588. 

"This  Court  has  recently  held  that  the  Legal  Tender 
Acts  are  constitutional.  So  by  that  decision  we  have  two 
kinds  of  money  in  this  country,  United  States  notes  and 
coin."— 12  W.  S.  C.  R. 

The  old  slave  power  hurled  its  anathama  against  the 
black  labor.  The  money  power  puts  forth  its  excathedra 
against  labor,  without  regard  to  color  or  previous  condi- 
tion of  servitude. 

We  have  not  space  or  time  to  further  trace  the  infamy 
of  the  slave  power,  but  we  wish  it  to  be  borne  in  mind  that 
slavery  was  a  crime  against  labor.  It  was  capital  owning 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  85 

labor,  and  through  its  corrupt  political  power  it  reached 
the  high  place  of  absolute  dictator.  Less  than  three  hun- 
dred thousand  slaveholders,  less  than  two  per  cent,  of 
the  people,  came  at  last,  this  two  per  cent,  class,  to  own 
the  President,  to  own  the  Senate,  to  own  Congress,  and 
so  control  the  Judiciary  as  to  wring  from  it  a  decision  that 
said  a  negro  had  no  rights  that  a  white  man  is  bound  to 
respect.  And  even  went  further,  bought  up  the  head- 
centers  of  the  church,  and  extorted  from  them  the  in- 
famous saying  that  slavery  was  a  divine  institution. 

Now  for  the  contrast: 

Take  the  great  money  power  of  to-day,  and  you  will 
find  it  the  twin  in  the  iniquity  wrought  out  by  its  wicked 
prototype — the  slave  power.  It  too,  owns  the  President, 
owns  the  Senate,  owns  the  Congress,  claims  the  judiciary, 
controls  the  press  and  has  bought  up  the  head-centers  of 
the  church,  who  are  declaring  that  capital  shall  have  the 
right  to  decree  bread  and  water  as  the  diet  of  labor.  But 
if  labor  attempts  to  reciprocate  on  capital,  then  take  the 
ballot  away,  if  you  have  to  use  the  bayonet.  The  great 
struggle  of  1856  gave  the  country  into  the  hands  of  the 
slave  power,  and  she  straight  way  said,  I  am  a  queen  and 
shall  see  no  sorrow.  She  gathered  around  her  all  the 
insignia  of  royalty  and  all  the  hauteur  of  tyranny.  The 
groan  of  the  slave  only  made  her  laugh.  The  plea  of 
virtue  in  the  bond-women  only  fanned  her  lust. 

And  liberty  went  down,  down,  down,  till  the  goddess 
wept  for  freedom  lost.  The  slave  oligarchy,  in  a  cry  that 
startled  the  world — like  the  last  leap  of  mad  ambition, 
o'erdid  itself — said  capital  shall  own  labor. 

The  eventful  year  1858  came.  The  two  mighty  cham- 
pions— one  of  labor — Mr.  Lincoln :  the  other — Mr.  Doug- 
las the  apologist  of  slavery — made  a  canvass,  the  like  of 
which  was  not  before  known  in  our  history.  The  great 
hearted  man,  Mr.  Lincoln,  said  the  House  must  cease  to 
be  divided,  or  it  would  fall.  Mr.  Douglas  excused  the 
division. 

Out  of  this  discussion  slavery  came  more  haughty  than 
ever,  and  fully  bent  on  rule  or  ruin. 

And  with  a  defiance  hurled  at  humanity  and  a  taunt 
at  God,  said,  in  the  pride  of  her  heart: 


86  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

"I  will  call  my  slave-role  under  the  shadow  of  Bunker 
Hill."— Tombs. 

Then  one  mighty  cry,  like  the  voice  of  many  waters, 
rang  out,  labor  shall  be  free. 

The  struggle  of  1860  came,  and  gave  the  government 
into  the  hands  of  freedom.  The  slave  power  rebelled. 

It  said  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was  a  lie ;  that 
our  fathers  were  mistaken  when  they  declared  it.  There 
was  no  measuring  the  haughtiness,  the  impudence,  and 
the  criminality  of  this  tyrant  of  labor. 

The  slave  power  inaugurated  war,  published  a  great 
State  paper  in  which  they  declared  that  a  white  man's 
republic  could  only  be  founded  on  the  perpetual  enslave- 
ment of  the  black  man. 

It  baptised  the  land  in  blood,  watered  the  hearth-stones 
with  tears,  outraged  humanity,  defied  God  and  was 
crushed  to  death  amid  the  boom  of  the  cannon  and  the 
wail  of  the  dying. 

Thus  died  chattel  slavery  in  the  republic.  And  after  it, 
as  sequel  to  it,  a  more  fearful  menace  to  the  rights  of 
man  to  earn  his  bread  by  the  sweat  of  his  brow — has 
arisen — the  money  power;  more  dangerous  because  it 
works  and  operates  through  corporate  persons. 

The  entailments  of  the  war,  necessarily  left  ground  for 
just  such  a  noxious  plant.  A  large  bonded  debt ;  unsur- 
passed activity;  ambitious  aspirants  and  labor,  the  card 
to  be  played  for. 

The  worse  fears  of  the  good  and  the  sad  misappre- 
hensions of  the  benevolent,  have  all  been  realized,  in  the 
dangerous  growth,  since  the  war  of  corporate  persons, 
legalized  monopolies. 

As  early  as  the  first  year  of  the  war,  the  great  capi- 
talists of  Europe  and  America  saw  that  slavery  in  chattel 
form  was  doomed  to  overthrow,  and  that  labor  would 
have  to  be  manipulated  by  other  means.  Mr.  Lincoln 
saw  it,  as  with  the  prophet's  eye,  before  he  put  forth  his 
second  message,  and  his  great  heart  of  love  for  humanity 
impelled  him  to  warn  his  countrymen  of  the  danger.  He 
knew,  as  but  few  men  know,  the  fearful  wrong  of  slavery 
to  labor,  and  yet,  great  as  that  wrong  was,  he  could  and 
did  see  a  greater.  He  saw,  gradually,  but  surely  coming 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  87 

— a  danger  to  labor,  the  heinousness  of  which  no  lan- 
guage can  tell. 

To  avert  it  he  called  attention  to  it  in  the  strongest  and 
plainest  of  language : 

"In  those  documents  we  find  the  abridgment  of  the 
existing  right  of  suffrage  and  the  denial  to  the  people  of 
all  right  to  participate  in  the  selection  of  public  officers, 
except  the  legislative,  boldly  advocated  with  labored  argu- 
ments to  prove  that  large  control  of  the  people  in  gov- 
ernment is  the  source  of  all  political  evil.  Monarchy 
itself  is  sometimes  hinted  at  as  a  possible  refuge  from 
the  poiver  of  the  people.  In  my  present  position  I  could 
scarcely  be  justified  were  I  to  omit  raising  a  warning 
voice  against  this  approach  of  returning  despotism.  It 
is  not  needed  or  fitting  here  that  a  general  argument 
should  be  made  in  favor  of  popular  institutions,  but 
there  is  one  point,  with  its  connections,  not  so  hackneyed 
as  the  other,  to  which  I  ask  a  brief  attention.  It  is  the 
effort  to  place  capital  on  an  equal  footing  with,  if  not 
above,  labor,  in  the  structure  of  government.  It  is 
assumed  that  labor  is  only  available  in  connection  with 
capital ;  that  nobody  labors  unless  somebody  else  owning 
capital  somehow  by  the  use  of  it  induces  him  to  labor. 
This  assumed  it  is  next  considered  whether  it  is  best  that 
capital  shall  hire  laborers  and  thus  induce  them  to  work 
by  their  own  consent,  or  buy  them  and  drive  them  to  it 
without  their  consent.  Having  proceeded  so  far,  it  is 
naturally  concluded  that  all  laborers  are  either  hired 
laborers,  or  what  we  call  slave.  And  further,  it  is 
assumed  that  whoever  is  once  a  hired  laborer  is  fixed  in 
that  condition  for  life.  Now,  there  is  no  such  relation 
between  capital  and  labor  as  assumed,  nor  is  there  any 
such  a  thing  as  a  freeman  being  fixed  for  life  in  the 
condition  of  a  hired  laborer. 

Labor  is  prior  to  and  independent  of  capital. 

Capital  is  only  the  fruit  of  labor,  and  could  never 
have  existed  if  labor  had  not  first  existed. 

Labor  is  the  superior  of  capital  and  deserves  much 
the  higher  consideration. 

The  prudent  penniless  beginner  in  the  world  labors  for 
wages  for  a  while,  saves  a  surplus  with  which  to  buy 


88  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

tools  or  land  for  himself,  then  labors  on  another  while 
and  at  length  hires  another  beginner  to  help  him.  This 
is  the  first,  the  generous  and  the  prosperous  system,  which 
opens  the  way  to  all,  gives  hope  to  all  and  consequent 
energy,  progress  and  improvement  of  condition  to  all. 
No  men  living  are  more  to  be  trusted  than  those  who  toil 
up  from  poverty ;  none  less  inclined  to  touch  or  take 
aught  which  they  have  not  honestly  earned.  Let  them 
beware  of  surrendering  a  political  pozver  which  they  al- 
ready possess  and  ^vhich  when  surrendered  will  surely 
be  used  to  close  the  doors  of  advancement  against  such 
as  they  and  to  fix  new  disabilities  and  burdens  upon  them 
till  all  their  liberty  shall  be  lost." — Lincoln's  2d  message. 

And  there  was  a  great  plot  laid  at  this  time,  to  entail 
upon  labor  untold  injury  and  to  exalt  and  deify  capital 
is  a  fact  capable  of  demonstration. 

In  the  line  of  confirmation,  we  quote  from  a  secret 
correspondence  to  a  New  York  paper,  and  the  editorial 
on  it: 

SILVER  CURRENCY  IN  FRANCE. 


An  Alleged  Combination  of  Capitalists  to  Enrich  Them- 
selves at  the  Expense  of  the  People  Through  the  De- 
monetisation of  Silver. 


The  following,  from  the  New  York  Graphic,  printed 
four  years  ago,  is  worthy  of  reprint,  as  we  shall  show 
hereafter  that  demonetizing  silver  was  a  conspiracy: 

PARIS,  May  6. — I  have  recently  been  in  the  employ  of 
one  of  the  leading  banking  houses  of  the  world,  and  I 
think  it  due  to  the  American  public,  that  they  should  be 
made  acquainted  with  one  of  the  most  tremendous  finan- 
cial operations  ever  known  in  the  history  of  mankind, 
was  trained  in  early  life  for  a  financial  career,  and  I 
learned  to  write  and  speak  fluently  German,  French,  Eng- 
lish and  Dutch. 

In  my  confidential  relations  with  the  various  great 
banking  houses — as  cofrespondent  of  a  leading  firm — 
and  by  means  of  a  stray  letter  which  came  accidentally 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  89 

into  my  possession,  I  acquired  information  that  seems 
to  me  of  the  very  highest  importance.  As  far  back  as 
1863  letters  were  received  by  the  Rothschilds  in  this  city 
pointing  out  the  evil  effects  which  were  likely  to  follow 
from  the  use  of  paper  money  in  America.  Prices  were 
then  rising  in  your  country,  and  I  judge  bankers  were 
puzzled  to  know  what  to  do  with  your  American  securi- 
ties and  evidence  of  debt. 

The  adoption  of  the  ''legal  tender  act,"  as  you  called  it 
in  your  country,  made  it  possible  to  pay  in  depreciated 
paper,  debts  contracted  in  coin.  Much  correspondence 
ensued  among  the  European  bankers  touching  American 
affairs,  and  it  led  to  a  determination  which,  however,  was 
not  finally  reached  until  toward  the  close  of  the  Franco- 
German  war.  This  determination  was  for  a  plan  of 
bringing  the  power  of  all  the  great  bankers  of  the  world 
to  substitute  the  gold  basis  for  all  commercial  transac- 
tions in  the  place  of  the  silver  basis,  or  the  mixed  basis 
of  gold  and  silver. 

Whenever  there  is  a  scarcity  of  coin  it  has  inured  to 
the  benefit  of  the  creditor  class.  Prices  have  ruled  low, 
and  a  small  sum  would  purchase  a  good  deal  of  raw  or 
manufactured  material. 

But  the  intercourse  between  Nations,  the  invention  of 
paper  money,  or  bills  of  exchange,  of  bank  currency  and 
credits  in  fact,  all  the  saving  devices  of  modern  commerce 
tended  to  make  money  plenty  and  prices  high.  Every- 
thing in  that  position  of  affairs  worked  against  the 
creditor  and  in  favor  of  the  debtor  class. 

This,  it  will  be  seen,  was  a  beneficial  tendency  for  the 
masses  of  the  people.  It  compelled  the  capitalists  to  in- 
crease their  efforts  in  order  to  maintain  their  position. 
It  favored  the  debtors  who  are  always  the  enterprising 
part  of  the  community. 

The  man  who  does  not  go  in  debt  is  the  speculator; 
he  lends  and  absorbs,  but  does  not  start  new  enterprises, 
nor  does  he  add  to  the  wealth  of  the  community.  The 
consequence  of  this  is,  that  the  cheapening  of  money  is 
good  for  all  business,  and  benefits  a  very  large  class  of 
the  community. 

The  great  money-lenders  of   Europe    (as  the  letters 


go  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

which  passed  under  my  inspection  clearly  proved)  deter- 
mined to  reverse  this  tide  in  affairs,  this  general  cheap- 
ness of  money  which  has  been  going  on  for  three  hun- 
dred years.  I  have  indisputable  evidence  in  my  pos- 
session, that  an  immense  fund  was  raised  to  bring  about 
the  general  adoption  of  the  gold  metal  basis. 

The  money-writers,  and  political  economists  in  London, 
Paris,  Berlin,  Frankfort  and  Amsterdam  were  either 
argued  into  the  adoption  of  these  views,  or  purchased 
outright.  Hence  the  articles  in  the  leading  papers  in 
Europe  in  favor  of  the  gold  basis  in  preference  to  the 
silver  or  mixed  basis. 

Of  course  the  object  of  the  great  capitalists  of  Europe 
is  quite  apparent  in  the  crusade  against  silver.  By  reduc- 
ing the  currency  one-half  it  would  add  enormously  to 
their  wealth  by  cheapening  products  and  giving  them  a 
still  greater  monopoly  of  the  circulating  medium. 

If  the  records  could  be  searched  it  would  be  found  that 
the  demonetization  of  silver  in  England,  Germany  and 
Holland,  and  its  practical  demonetization  in  France,  was 
effected  simultaneously  with  the  passage  of  the  gold  act 
by  the  American  Congress — I  think  that  was  in  1873 — 
getting  rid  of  the  old  silver  dollar,  the  unit  of  value  on 
which  your  debt  was  contracted. 

In  other  words,  the  great  capitalists  of  the  world,  by  a 
gigantic  conspiracy,  like  the  Roman  emperors  of  old, 
managed  to  tax  the  whole  civilized  world  from  ten  to 
twenty  per  cent,  for  their  own  personal  benefit.  The 
object  was  to  make  the  very  rich  richer  and  the  very  poor 
poorer.  With  silver  demonetized,  gold  would,  of  course, 
appreciate  considerably  in  value,  and  all  who  were 
creditors  to  governments,  or  for  individual  debts,  would 
have  their  evidences  of  debt  greatly  enhanced  in  value. 
Gold  is  the  currency  of  the  rich;  silver,  throughout  the 
civilized  and  uncivilized  world,  is  the  money  of  the  great 
mass  of  the  community. 

The  small  retail  traffic  of  life  is  all  managed  by  means 
of  silver.  By  getting  rid  of  silver  these  rich  bankers 
and  capitalists  added  billions  of  thalers  to  their  posses- 
sions. If  the  facts  could  ever  be  brought  to  light  it 
would  be  found  that  the  American  Congress  was  bribed 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  91 

by  the  capitalists  of  Europe  and  this  country  to  get  rid 
of  the  silver  dollar,  and  substitute  gold. 

That  corruption  was  employed  in  Germany  is  open  to 
doubt.  Bismarck  could  not  be  prevailed  upon  to  make 
the  change  from  silver  to  gold  until  he  became  alarmed 
at  the  demoralization  caused  by  the  payment  of  the 
French  indemnity.  The  vast  masses  of  gold  thrown 
upon  Germany  by  the  payment  of  the  French  tribute, 
raised  prices,  checked  production,  and  stimulated  feverish 
speculation.  Thereupon  Bismarck  was  induced  to  try  to 
utilize  the  gold  by  expelling  silver. 

In  small  countries,  like  Holland,  the  matter  could  be 
easily  managed.  The  movement  succeeded  in  England, 
although  it  was  apprehended  that  it  would  destroy  the 
commerce  of  India,  which  is  carried  on  exclusively  on  a 
silver  basis;  and  this  fear  was  well  founded.  But  the 
Economist  and  other  financial  papers  in  London  support 
this  gigantic  conspiracy  of  the  capitalists. 

You  may  ask,  why  do  I,  a  confidential  agent,  tell  of 
this?  Because,  frankly,  I  think  the  facts  ought  to  be 
known  to  the  world.  Then,  I  am  a  red  Republican  in  my 
heart.  I  believe  in  the  solidarity  of  the  people — in  fra- 
ternity— in  the  splendid  future  in  which  Europe  will  be 
one  great  republic.  It  seems  to  me  that  the  cry  should 
be  raised  by  the  laboring  classes  for  a  repudiation  of  all 
the  national  debts  of  the  world.  The  capitalists  have 
shown  themselves  so  tyrannical,  so  antagonistic  to  the 
interests  of  the  masses  of  the  community,  that  no  mercy 
should  be  shown  to  them.  They  have,  by  their  recent 
action  in  the  demonetization"  of  silver,  added  most  un- 
justly to  the  debts  of  all  nations.  And  the  same  want  of 
conscience  which  they  have  shown  to  the  community 
should  be  manifested  toward  them  in  kind.  But,  alas, 
the  people  are  without  leaders.  There  is  no  means  of 
making  them  understand  this  very  simple  matter.  But 
surely  the  American  people  ought  to  know  the  exact  facts 
in  this  case,  and  should  apply  the  remedy  if  it  is  possible 
to  do  so.  HIPPOLITE  GRENIER. 


[From  the  New  York  Graphic,  July  n.] 
A  short  time  since  a  letter  was  published  in  the  Graphic 


92  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

from  a  person  said  to  be  employed  in  one  of  the  great 
banking  houses  of  Europe,  in  which  it  was  alleged  that 
within  the  knowledge  of  the  writer  a  great  many  bankers 
and  capitalists  had  formed  a  secret  league  with  far-reach- 
ing ramifications,  having  for  its  object  the  destruction 
of  silver  as  a  standard  of  value.  It  was  seen  by  them, 
according  to  this  story,  that  if  gold  was  the  only  money, 
it  would  become  scarce  and  rise  in  value,  and  that  such 
a  rise  would  still  further  augment  the  wealth  of  the  rich. 

This  account  went  on  to  say  that  Bismarck  had  been 
induced  to  adopt  the  single  gold  standard  for  his  vast 
realm,  and  that  it  was  already  in  operation  in  England, 
which  had  adopted  it  after  the  Napoleonic  wars  because 
gold  was  cheaper  than  silver,  and  that  other  nations 
would  soon  follow  suit.  This  secret  league  also  managed 
to  secure,  in  February,  1873,  Congressional  action,  by 
which  a  law  was  passed,  almost  unobserved,  setting  aside 
the  silver  dollar,  which  had  been  the  unit  of  value  for 
eighty  years,  and  substituting  for  it  the  gold  measure. 
This  not  only  made  gold  the  standard  of  all  indebtedness, 
but  eventually  carried  with  it  the  ultimate  measure  of 
gold  of  all  State,  county,  municipal,  corporate  and  per- 
sonal indebtedness. 

By  this  single  clandestine  act,  untold  millions  were 
added  to  the  burdens  of  the  debtor  class  in  this  country. 

At  first  we  were  disposed  to  question  the  correctness 
of  the  statement  of  our  Paris  correspondent,  but  we  are 
now  convinced  that  there  has  been  a  deliberate  conspiracy 
by  the  Rothschilds,  Barings  and  the  great  banking  houses 
of  Europe  and  America  to  add  an  enormous  burden  to 
debtors  and  to  enrich  the  holders  of  unencumbered  capi- 
tal. It  is  time  the  country  was  aroused  to  its  danger. 
The  annihilation  of  our  cheapest  standard  of  value  is  a 
direct  robbery  of  producers,  and  it  ought  to  be  restored 
without  delay.  This  is  the  overmastering  financial  issue 
of  the  present  hour. 

It  is  idle  to  talk  of  resumption  in  gold.  Such  resump- 
tion was  not  nominated  in  the  bond.  The  debt  was  con- 
tracted to  be  "paid  in  coin."  To  insist  on  its  payment  in 
gold  exclusively  is  an  outrageous  breach  of  the  public 
faith,  and,  if  the  demand  is  yielded  to,  it  will  result  in  the 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  93 

distress  and  affliction  for  the  next  ten  years  of  every  ma- 
terial interest  in  the  country. 

This  is  not  merely  a  National  but  a  cosmopolitan  ques- 
tion. The  hard  times  all  over  the  world  to-day  are  due 
to  this  nefarious  plot  of  capitalists  to  enrich  themselves 
by  making,  under  a  false  pretense,  an  arbitrary  addition 
to  the  amount  of  money  due. 

It  is  a  new  levy  of  the  consumers  on  the  producers. 
We  give  some  extracts  to-day  bearing  on  this  scheme 
from  Senator  Jones'  speech,  from  the  Chicago  Inter 
Ocean  and  from  the  Cincinnati  Commercial,  which  sim- 
ultaneously see  the  peril  and  join  the  Graphic  in  raising 
the  note  of  warning.  These  show  what  ails  the  Nation 
and  what  has  paralyzed  commerce  throughout  the  civil- 
ized world. 

The  great  question  of  the  day  is  the  restoration  of  the 
double  standard,  and  the  making  of  the  American  dollar 
the  legal  tender  for  all  debts  the  same  as  is  the  silver 
five-franc  piece  in  thrifty  and  progressive  France.  The 
prosperity  of  the  great  European  republic  as  compared 
with  the  rest  of  the  world,  notwithstanding  the  enormous 
indebtedness  due  to  the  German  war,  and  the  poverty  and 
distress  of  the  conqueror,  are  both  due  to  the  fact  that 
Germany  has  attempted  to  exterminate  silver,  while 
France  has  made  it  a  welcome  guest.  The  question  in 
America  now  is  not  the  immediate  resumption  of  specie 
payment,  but  the  immediate  restoration  of  silver  as  a 
standard  of  value  to  the  place  it  occupied  under  the 
monetary  laws  of  the  country  from  1793  to  1873. 

Also,  this,  from  a  leading  journal  as  showing  the 
crimes  of  the  money  power  and  all  of  its  aiders  and 
abettors : 

"The  fact  is,  the  banks,  by  having  control  of  the  money, 
are  able  to  control  the  president,  his  secretaries,  Congress 
and  the  press,  and  by  so  doing  get  laws  enacted  for  their 
especial  benefit,  and  which  makes  useless  drudges  of  the 
working  classes.  The  result  of  this  is  the  government  is 
drifting  into  bankruptcy,  the  people  into  poverty  and  the 
people  into  anarchy  and  civil  war." — E.  P.  M. 

And  this : 

"These  rich  Jewish  capitalists  find  it  necessary  to  in- 


94  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

fluence  only  a  few  people  in  each  administration.  As 
bankers,  they  have  direct  access  to  secretaries  of  the 
treasuries  and  financial  ministers,  and  to  people  who 
manipulate  the  press  of  the  world.  Upon  various  plaus- 
ible pretexts  they  get  laws  passed  demonetizing  silver; 
which  being  effected,  they  take  advantage  of  the  ruinous 
fall  in  prices  which  occurs  all  over  the  world.  From  this, 
they  know  there  will  be  a  reaction  in  favor  of  the  two 
metals,  and  then  they  profit  by  the  addition  to  the  market 
value  of  what  they  bought  at  low  figures  and  sell  out." — 
N.  Y.  G. 

In  another  paper,  and  with  accompanying  proofs,  we 
have  shown  that  Land  Monopoly,  Money  Monopoly, 
Class  Legislation  has  been  the  bane  of  the  world. 

Then  we  discussed  the  capital  and  labor  question, 
showing  that  these  huge  monopolies — creatures  of  class 
law — are  contrary  to  the  laws  of  God  and  humanity. 
They  are  a  trinity  of  evil ;  they  are  a  monster  personified, 
whose  ultimate  aim  is,  to  deify  capital  and  enslave  labor, 
and  erect  a  monarchy  on  the  ruined  republic. 

We  call  it  the  conspiracy  of  the  money  power  against 
civilization. 

A  most  eminent  statesman  in  Europe — Ludback — has 
said: 

"The  powers  of  darkness  have  sent  forth  their  hosts 
to  enter  into  tyrants,  the  rulers  and  officials  of  all  Chris- 
tendom, and  Satan  is  about  to  work  his  masterpiece 
against  the  happiness  of  man." 

He  then  says: 

"There  is  likely  to  be  an  effort  made  by  the  capital 
class  to  fasten  upon  the  world  a  rule  through  their 
wealth,  and  by  means  of  reduced  wages  place  the  masses 
upon  a  footing  more  degrading  and  dependent  than  has 
ever  been  known  in  history.  The  spirit  of  money  wor- 
shippers seem  to  be  rapidly  developing  in  this  direction." 

A  look  into  the  nest  where  this  scorpion  was  hatched 
may  prove  beneficial.  A  peep  at  the  young  monster  that 
Mr.  Lincoln  saw  coming  to  "plague  us  as  chattel  slavery 
had  never  done,"  may  help  us  to  a  realization  of  our  true 
situation. 

That  the  legislation  on  the  financial  question  has  been 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  95 

a  conspiracy,  is  no  longer  doubted  by  any  who  have 
looked  into  the  matter. 

Mr.  Fessenden,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  said  the 
apparent  rise  and  fall  of  gold  was  caused  by  the  manipu- 
lation of  the  "secret  enemies"  of  the  country. 

Mr.  Hazzard  sent  his  circular  to  those  he  thought  it 
would  jlo  to  trust,  saying  to  them  that: 

"Slavery  is  likely  to  be  abolished  by  the  war  power, 
and  chattel  slavery  be  destroyed.  This,  I  and  my  Euro- 
pean friends  are  in  favor  of,  for  slavery  is  but  the  owning 
of  labor,  and  carries  with  it,  to  care  for  the  laborer ; 
while  the  European  plan,  led  in  by  England,  is:  capital 
control  of  labor  by  controlling  wages.  This  can  be  done 
by  controlling  the  money. 

The  great  debt  that  capitalists  will  see  to  it,  is  made 
out  of  this  war,  must  be  used  as  the  means  to  control  the 
volume  of  money. 

To  accomplish  this  they  (the  bonds)  must  be  used  as 
the  banking  basis. 

We  are  now  waiting  to 'get  the  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 
ury to  make  this  recommendation  to  Congress. 

It  will  not  do  to  allow  the  'greenback/  as  it  is  called, 
to  circulate  as  money  any  length  of  time,  for  we  cannot 
control  them,  but  we  can  control  the  bonds  and  through 
them  the  bank  issue." — Hazzard' s  Circular  of  1862. 

Thus  the  foreign  emissary  wrote,  and  it  is  curious  that 
the  Secretary  did  make  just  such  a  recommendation  to 
Congress  as  this  wily  agent  asked  for.  Here  it  is : 

"It  (the  greenback)  should  be  regarded  only  as  an 
expedient  for  emergency.  No  measure,  in  my  judgment, 
will  meet  the  necessities  of  the  occasion  and  prove  ade- 
quate to  the  provision  of  the  great  sums  to  be  required 
for  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion,  which  does  not  in- 
clude a  firm  support .  to  the  public  credit,  through  the 
establishment  of  a  uniform  national  circulation,  secured 
by  the  bonds  of  the  United  States." — S.  P.  Chase,  Secre- 
tary, R.  P.  C. 

It  was  said  in  the  debates  when  the  5-20  bonds  were 
under  discussion,  "that  capitalists  did  not  want  their  prin- 
cipal, but  only  interest." 

This  is  the  key-note  to  the  crime.     It  has  been  the 


96  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

deliberate  purpose  of  the  money  power,  since  as  early 
as  1862,  that  this  country  should  be  saddled  with  a  public 
debt,  which,  by  one  means  or  another,  should  become  a 
debt  in  perpetuo. 

This  is  the  very  last  step  in  the  conspiracy  and  is  well 
nigh  accomplished  now. 

We  travel  the  serpentine  track  of  this  wily  foe  of 
labor,  this  enemy  of  Christian  civilization,  from 'its  first 
step  of  crime,  in  the  seven  laws  it  has  secured  the  pas- 
sage of  infamously  wicked  financial  laws. 

1.  The  act  of  Congress  of   1862,  placing  two  excep- 
tions on  the  greenback  dollar. 

2.  The  act  of  Congress  of  1863,  creating  the  national 
banks. 

3.  The  act  of  Congress  of  1865,  contracting  the  cur- 
rency.   A  law  to  make  less  money  and  more  bonds. 

4.  The  act  of  Congress  of   1869,  that  changed  the 
condition  of  payment  of  the  5-20  bonds,  from  payment 
in  paper  money  to  payment  in  coin;  also,  making  the 
greenback  redeemable  in  coin: 

5.  The  act  of  Congress  of  1870,  authorizing  the  fund- 
ing of  the  bonds. 

6.  The  act  of  Congress  of  1873,  demonetizing  silver, 
thereby  making  our  debt  payable  in  gold  alone. 

7.  The  redemption  act  of  1875. 

These  laws  bring  us  down  by  their  inexorable  opera- 
tion, to — 

1.  A  single  gold  standard  as  a  measure  of  value. 

2.  A  bonded  debt  never  to  be  paid. 

3.  Bank  paper  issued  on  these  bonds  inflated  and  con- 
tracted at  the  will  of  the  bank  corporations,  inflation  and 
contraction  being  the  soul  and  spirit  of  banking. 

This  is  our  situation,  and  if  allowed  to  remain,  capital 
becomes  supreme,  and  labor  its  serf.  Corporate  persons 
created  by  laws,  rule  the  world.  Individual  persons 
created  by  God,  serve,  struggle  and  die,  at  the  hands  of 
these  monsters. 

Thus  we  indict  the  Republican  party,  and  include  the 
Democratic  party  in  the  indictment,  as  accessories  in  the 
crime.  Both  must  die  if  liberty  lives. 

We  release  the  masses  of  both  parties,  who,  through 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  97 

ignorance,  fealty  to  party  and  cowardice,  have  condoned 
the  crime  to  a  shameful  degree.  But  the  leaders  of  the 
Republican  party,  in  the  enactment  of  these  laws,  we 
brand  as  enemies  of  the  human  race.  The  Democratic 
leaders  aided  and  abetted. 

The  PEOPLE  demand  the  repeal  and  modification  of 
these  laws  to  the  end  that  the  money  power  shall  be 
disarmed  and 

1.  The  bonds  paid  and  not  refunded. 

2.  Bank  issue  suppressed  and  the  issue  restored  to 
the  government,  to  whom  it  properly  belongs. 

3.  All  money,  whether  metal  or  paper,  to  be  issued 
by  the  government  and  made  full  legal  tender  in  payment 
of  all  debts,  public  and  private. 

4.  The  free  and  unlimited  coinage  of  gold  and  silver 
to  be  established  by  law,  at  the  same  weight  and  fineness 
of  each,  as  are  now  fixed  by  law. 

5.  That  corporations  shall  have  no  greater  privilege 
than  other  persons.    The  high  seas,  the  lakes,  the  navig- 
able rivers,  canals  and  railroads  are  all  public  highways. 

6.  That  freightage,  transportation,  the  carrying  trade, 
being  a  part  of  commerce,  shall  be  regulated  by  Con- 
gress as  the  Constitution  directs. 

7.  That  the  public  lands  shall  be  kept  for  homes  for 
the  people ;  and  in  all  those  cases  where  railroads  or  other 
corporations  have  failed  to  comply  with  the  terms  of  their 
grant,  that  the  lands  shall  revert  to  the  government  for 
the  benefit  of  the  people. 

8.  That  taxation  shall  be  equal,  and  no  class  of  per- 
sons or  property  shall  be  exempt  from  its  legitimate  bur- 
den of  taxation. 

And,  further,  the  remedy  for  all  this  in  the  very  highest 
sense  is: 

1.  An   honest,  intelligent  ballot,  in   remodelling  the 
laws,  so  that  equal  and  exact  justice  to  all  men,  with 
special  privileges  to  none,  shall  be  the  rule. 

2.  Or,   failing  in  this  peaceful  and  desirable  mode, 
then  revolution. 

And  this  last  always  comes  when  burdens  become  too 
heavy  for  humanity  to  bear. 

4t  $  $  £  41  £  4t  4> 

Thirty  weary  years  have  come  and  gone.    The  conflict 


98  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

widens,  deepens  and  intensifies.  The  greed  for  money  in 
the  eyes  of  those  who  turn  the  temple  of  God  into  a  den 
of  thieves,  is  appalling.  If  the  world's  Omniarch  was 
there  he  would  go  to  our  great  temple  of  liberty,  as  he  did 
to  the  temple  of  God  eighteen  hundred  years  ago,  and 
scourge  out  the  thieves;  but  as  Christ  has  not  been  in 
Washington  for  fifteen  years,  the  robbery  goes  on. 

All  Christendom  is  in  the  whirlpool.  Eight  million 
trained  soldiers  stand  as  a  menace  to  liberty  and  the  rights 
of  man — making  life  a  burden,  and  death  a  thing  to  be 
desired. 

A  few  own  the  land  and  work  it  by  serfs  and  slaves 
really. 

A  few  control  the  money  and  make  it  an  instrument  of 
tyranny,  that  destroys  business,  robs  labor  and  fills  the 
world  with  tears,  wrung  from  suffering  humanity. 

An  official  class  lord  it  over  God's  heritage. 

The  church  is  corrupt,  the  state  rotten  and  the  people 
hopeless. 

History  is  repeating  itself;  the  judgments  of  God  are 
impending. 

The  old  prophets'  words  are  actualizing  into  history — 
"evil  shall  go  forth  from  nation  to  nation." 

The  agents  of  despots  from  abroad  and  the  money- 
mongers  at  home,  have  conspired  together,  to  usher  in 
the  golden  age,  the  millennium  of  self,  where  wealth  shall 
be  defied  and  labor  enslaved. 

The  struggle,  hour  by  hour,  becomes  more  fierce 
throughout  civilization. 

For  as  the  monopoly  in  money  grows  stronger,  by 
means  of  special  legislation  in  the  interest  of  class,  so 
does  land  monopoly  swell  into  almost  infinite  proportions. 

Thus  the  world  drifts  toward  a  crisis^  not  new,  but 
the  old  one,  clothed  with  a  more  fiery  mission — a  mission 
that  shall  sweep  from  the  face  of  the  globe  special  priv- 
ileges, and  leave  in  their  stead  a  fire-garnished  field,  where 
justice  shall  be  administered,  equality  enjoyed,  and  gov- 
ernment of  the  people,  by  the  people  and  for  the  people, 
spread  its  equities  and  its  happiness  from  sea  to  sea  and 
from  the  rivers  to  the  ends  of  the  earth.  Then  shall  lead 
our  enfranchised  country,  and  then  the  climax  come ! 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  99 

America!  the  aegis  of  liberty:  the  beacon  light  of  hope. 
Land  of  the  free  church ;  land  of  the  free  school ;  land  of 
the  free  man.  The  divinely  guided  Magi  came  from  the 
East  to  worship  in  the  manger,  the  Omniarch  of  the  world. 
His  star  moved  west  until  it  bathed  in  the  silver  waters 
of  the  ocean  of  setting  sun.  Then  its  burning  corrusca- 
tions  shone  back  upon  the  track  where  man  had  taken  his 
weary  march,  and  the  glory  of  that  double  shining  made 
brighter  than  halo — America. 

America!  baptised  in  the  ravishments  which  herald  the 
Messianic  day. 

America!  Sweetest  name:  shibboleth  of  the  race. 

America!  the  land  of  heroes;  land  of  God's  planting. 
Here,  the  trees  stretch  forth  their  giant  arms,  as  though 
to  snatch  the  star-gems  from  the  blue  above  to  adorn  these 
glorious  plains.  Here  the  silvery  lakes  are  shenic  beauty ; 
a  dazzling  shimmer ;  a  silent  laugh.  Here,  roll  the  grand- 
est rivers  of  earth,  upon  whose  swelling  floods  float  a 
commerce,  countless  in  riches,  endless  in  extent. 

Here  are  soils  outrivaling,  a  thousand  fold,  the  famed 
valleys  of  the  Hungar-mud ;  and  here  are  gold  and  silver 
and  ores,  where: 

"Old   Ophir  in  her  haughty  pride, 
This  triad  sets  aside." 

America!  to  thy  new-born  glories  came  the  noblest 
stock:  Pilgrims,  Hugeunots,  MEN:  and  on  thy  teeming 
bosom  planted  the  tabernacle  of  empire.  Here,  swelled 
from  the  heart  the  diapason  of  the  ages  their  undying 
anthems. 

"Those  daring  men,  those  gentle  wives;  say,  wherefore 

do  they  come? 

Why  rend  they  all  the  tender  ties  of  kindred  and  of  home  ? 
'Tis  Heaven  assigns  their  noble  work,  man's  spirit  to 

unbind. 
They  come  not  for  themselves  alone,  they  come  for  all 

mankind ;  , 

And  to  this  empire  of  the  West,  this  glorious  boon  they 

bring, 
A  church  without  a  Bishop,  a  State  without  a  King." 


loo  Life  of  Col.  J$sse  Harper. 

America !  the  Hazalei  held  back  for  nearly  six  thousand 
years. 

America!  the  Hesperides  of  the  last  times. 

America!  Nobler  than  freedom's  home. 

My  countrymen,  fail  not  in  your  high  mission.  Let  not 
history  repeat  itself  in  you.  Make,  indeed,  this  land  the 
fruition  just  pictured.  If  the  temple  of  liberty  fall  then 
all  shall  be  lost.  If  its  fruitage  of  hope,  more  sweet  than 
the  grapes  of  Eschol,  perish,  then  shall  all  die.  If  this 
last  hope  of  man  fails,  if  this  zvork  unequalled,  burns 
to  ashes  on  our  fallen  altars,  then  will  be  actualized  into 
history:  "Death  upon  the  pale  horse  and  hell  following 
after  him." 

In  thus  murdering  America,  blood  shall  flow  to  the 
bridle  bits. 

Egypt  eclipsed  in  cruelty  by  making  the  bondsman's 
tears  more  scalding. 

Babylon  outdone  in  hauteur  by  making  the  toiler's 
chances  more  galling. 

Persia  be  overshadowed  in  the  ravishments  of  wealth 
by  making  the  excise  on  labor  more  unbearable. 

Greece,  with  her  silver  isles,  "where  burning  Sappho 
loved  and  sung,"  be  more  than  rivaled  in  making  the 
down-trodden  more  wretched. 

And  Rome,  old  iron  Rome,  be  made  to  pale  in  her 
crime  against  God's  workers,  when  contrasted  with  this 
modern  oligarchy  of  evil,  where  man's  right  to  earn  his 
bread  by  the  sweat  of  his  brow  is  denied  by  law,  and  he 
reduced  to  a  beggar. 

My  countrymen,  it  shall  not  be.  The  God  of  our 
fathers  loves  us  too  well  to  permit  it.  The  spirit  of  our 
dead  ones  is  incense  to  the  fire  of  liberty,  fanning  it  to  a 
flame.  Even  now  the  heat  of  their  coming  is  felt  flashing 
against  the  face  of  tyrants.  The  arm  is  raised  to  strike ; 
and  when  the  blow  falls,  once  for  all  and  forever  shall 
it  settle  the  grand  question  of  human  history — the  rights 
of  man. 

America  is  the  battle  ground,  Christian  civilization  the 
issue.  A  million  hearts  feel  the  glow  of  the  coming 
regenesis,  and  ten  times  a  million  strong  arms  are  rising 
in  its  defense.  If  justice  is  not  done  to  all  by  the  per- 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  101 

suasive  influence  of  love,  avenging  swords  shall  leap  from 
the  scabbard,  no  more  to  rest  till  red-handed  wrong  has 
been  buried  in  a  grave  to  which  eternal  ages  shall  bring 
no  resurrection. 

This  new  child  of  glorious  destiny  is  now  ready  for  the 
birth.  The  sky  is  bright  with  the  rising  of  the  Anastatic 
day.  The  fire-wrapted  Elijah's  are  in  a  thousand  forms 
being  caught  away. 

The  mantles  of  promise  fall  upon  the  Elisha's  of 
prophecy ;  the  ark  of  liberty  is  being  raised ;  the  conse- 
crated hand  of  manhood  is  bearing  it  to  the  hilltops  of 
freedom. 

There,  amid  churches  whose  spires  are  bathed  in  blue, 
and  whose  bodies  are  filled  with  true  worshippers,  rings 
the  te  deum  laudamus. 

There,  amid  a  school  system  broad  as  earth  and  free 
as  air,  rings  the  te  deum  laudamus. 

And  there,  amid  government  of  the  people,  by  the  peo- 
ple, and  for  the  people,  rings  the  te  deum  laudamus. 

There  nations  as  one  brotherhood  stand  uncovered,  and 
hand  in  hand  give  universal  greeting. 

America,  last  found,  longest  hid,  is  the  center  gem! 

America  has  closed  the  march  of  misrule  and  brought 
perennial  day. 

America  has  become  the  empire  of  the  setting  sun, 
whose  sceptre  at  last  shall  "rule  from  sea  to  sea,  and 
from  the  rivers  to  the  ends  of  the  earth." 


MURDER  AND  MONEY. 

COL.  HARPER:  When  you  spoke  here  on  Saturday,  the 
1 8th,  you  affirmed  some  propositions  that  are  denied  and 
stated  some  questions  that  are  disputed.  You  said : 

1.  The  cry  of  "tariff  and  free  trade"  were  frauds  of 
the  most  pronounced  kind.     That  the  old  party  leaders 
were  in  a  joint  conspiracy  to  defraud  the  people. 

2.  It  was  not  the  protective  tariff  that  had  brought 
the  ruin  that  menaced  the  life  of  the  republic,  nor  would 
free  trade  avoid  the  danger. 

3.  It  is  monopoly  in  two  forms — money  and  trans- 
portation.    These  will  ultimate  in  land  monopoly  and 
change  the  republic  into  a  plutocracy. 

4.  Railroads    are    watered    $5,000,000,000,    making 
them — money   and   water — $7,000,000,000,   and   on   this 
sum  dividends  were  extorted. 

5.  Wheat  could  be  carried  from  Kansas  City  to  New 
York  for  4  cents  a  bushel  and  pay  a  fair  per  cent  on  the 
actual  capital  in  railroads.     While  this  is  true,  for  more 
than  ten  years  28  cents  a  bushel  has  been  paid. 

6.  Murder  has  increased  for  twenty  years. 

7.  We  are  indebted  more  than  twenty  billion  dollars. 
That  it  would  take  a  third  more  days'  work  and  a  third 
more  of  the  products  of  labor  to  pay  our  debt  (the  same 
amount)  than  it  would  at  Lee's  surrender. 

One  gentleman  said,  "When  he  stated  that  we  were  a 
nation  of  murderers,  he  lied." 

Please  answer  all  these  denials  through  the  public  press 
and  you  will  much  oblige  many  who  are  anxious  to  know 
the  truth.  Yours  for  humanity,  AUSTIN  SAYBERT. 

Sioux  Falls,  S.  D. 

MY  DEAR  BROTHER:  Your  letter  of  February  21  came 
in  due  time,  but  I  was  away.  I  thank  you  for  it.  I  ex- 
pected the  speech  would  cause  some  heat;  two  hours 
and  a  half  is  a  hot  indicator.  The  speech  is  all  in  print, 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  .103 

but  scattered  through  pamphlets,  newspapers,  etc.  I 
know  the  ground  I  went  over,  and  will  follow  you  in 
your  suggestions. 

I  smile  when  the  tariff  and  free  trade  are  mentioned, 
but  tears  follow  when  I  think  of  the  fearful  ruin  brought 
on  my  countrymen  by  this  false  clamor. 

Tariff  and  free  trade  have  been  discussed  for  more 
than  a  hundred  years,  by  the  greatest  names  in  our  his- 
tory, and  is  to-day  just  as  unsettled  as  at  the  beginning. 
The  reason — because  it  is  an  incidental  question. 

Till  you  settle  the  main  question  the  incidental  will  re- 
main unsettled.  And  as  long  as  our  mode  of  raising  reve- 
nue is  continued,  "tariff  and  free  trade"  will  be  used  as 
clap-trap  to  catch  the  votes  of  gudgeons. 

How  can  a  protective  tariff  relieve  you  from  the  ex- 
tortion of  railroad  monopoly?  How  can  free  trade  save 
you  from  the  per  cent  paid  railroads  on  watered  stock? 

A  rate  on  $2,000,000,000,  the  proximate  cost  of  rail- 
roads, would,  at  certain  points,  give  you  64  cents  a  bushel 
for  wheat.  But  the  same  per  cent  on  $7,000,000,000 — 
$5,000,000,000  of  it  water — puts  your  wheat  down,  at 
that  point,  to  40  cents  per  bushel. 

With  these  facts  before  you,  where  is  the  honesty  of 
the  cry  "tariff  and  free  trade"?  We  say  the  cry  is  a 
fraud,  a  by-play  between  the  two  old  parties  while  they 
rob  you  of  your  wheat.  Both  tariff  and  free  trade  (as 
now  used)  are  the  enemies  of  production  and  labor. 

It  is  the  monopoly  of  home  trade,  by  means  of  class 
legislation,  in  the  interest  of  capital,  of  money,  that  im- 
poverishes to  penury  the  producing  classes  and  crowds 
labor  down  to  serfdom  and  death. 

Take  ten  years,  1873  to  1883,  money  appreciated  30 
per  cent.  Production  and  labor  depreciated  a  like  per 
cent.  And  this  condition  spread  over  all  Christendom. 
In  protection  and  free  trade  countries  the  result  was  the 
same — money  went  up,  production  and  labor  went  down. 
Capital  grew  richer,  labor  grew  poorer  and  more  de- 
graded. Meanwhile,  politicians  acted  the  part  of  con- 
spirators against  humanity. 


IO4  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

OF  CONTRACTION. 

The  volume  of  the  money  (silver  and  paper  was  de- 
monetized) became  so  small  as  to  leave  the  people  help- 
less and  bankrupt.  This  act  was  the  crime  of  the  age. 
And  those  who  have  grown  to  millionaires  by  it  cry 
"tariff  and  free  trade"  to  hide  their  crime.  Will  the 
people  ever  see  this  false  clamor?  Will  they  ever  see 
this  conspiracy  to  subvert  the  republic? 

The  greatest  crime  man  or  government  can  commit 
against  man's  happiness  is  to  contract  the  volume  of 
money  after  the  debt  is  made.  The  debt  must  be  paid 
with  the  same  volume  of  money  in  existence  or  the  debtor 
is  robbed. 

OF  THE  GOLD  STANDARD  OF  lS/3  TO  1883. 

E.  C.  Bohne,  before  the  American  Bankers'  associa- 
tion, at  Louisville,  Ky.,  said :  "Every  creditor  is  made  30 
per  cent  richer  (by  the  gold  standard)  and  every  debtor 
or  borrower,  and  every  seller  of  the  products  of  his  labor 
is  made  30  per  cent  poorer. 

"Having  thus  proven  the  fact,  I  now  desire  to  apply 
it  to  the  finance  of  the  day. 

"A  farmer  who  owes  $10,000,  bearing  6  per  cent  in- 
terest, ten  years  ago  had  to  raise  357  bushels  of  corn  to 
pay  the  interest  on  this  debt;  now  he  has  to  raise  435 
bushels  to  do  the  same  thing.  A  wool-grower,  under  the 
same  circumstances,  previously  liquidated  his  interest 
with  1,000  pounds  of  wool,  while  now  he  has  to  give  the 
value  of  i, 800  pounds.  An  iron-miner,  in  the  same  situa- 
tion, ten  years  ago  paid  his  yearly  interest  with  about  21 
tons  of  pig  iron ;  now  he  has  to  pay  the  equivalent  of  50 
tons  for  the  same  item.  And  all  this  increase  in  the  quan- 
tity of  commodities  necessary  to  pay  a  certain  stipulated 
debt  charge  comes  upon  the  debtor  in  the  face  of  a 
steadily  falling  market,  making  his  prospects  gloomier 
every  year,  and  decreasing  his  capacity  to  get  out  of  debt 
more  and  more.  On  the  other  hand,  ten  years  ago  the 
creditor,  for  his  annual  interest,  got  but  357  bushels  of 
corn ;  now  he  gets  435  bushels.  Ten  years  ago  the  cred- 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  105 

itor  got  for  his  annual  interest  1,000  pounds  of  wool; 
now  he  gets  1,800  pounds,  etc." 

Now,  what  honesty  for  so-called  statesmen  to  bandy 
at  each  other  "tariff  and  free  trade"  ?  It  was  the  appre- 
ciation of  the  gold  and  the  contraction  of  the  volume  that 
took  the  corn,  the  wool  and  the  iron. 

And  he  who  cries  "tariff  and  free  trade"  is  a  con- 
spirator. 

John  P.  Jones,  in  United  States  Senate,  says :  "The  full 
measure  of  debts  is  the  money  price  of  the  products  of 
human  labor. 

"This  fact  reveals  the  real  motives  of  the  conspirators 
who,  for  the  last  twenty  years,  have  persistently  endeav- 
ored to  demonetize  silver  and  paper  money,  and  who 
have  strenuously  resisted  every  proposition  that  looked 
toward  maintaining  the  volume  or  increasing  it  par$  passu 
with  the  increasing  demand  for  it." 

The  volume  was  $52  per  capita  in  1866,  and  $9  per 
capita  in  1885. 

Here  is  the  devil  concealed  amid  a  corrydon  of  lies. 

Here  is  the  crime  of  false  statesmanship. 

"Tariff  and  free  trade,"  the  clamor  of  wolves  while 
devouring  the  flock. 

"Tariff  and  free  trade,"  the  battle-cry  of  the  money 
barons,  while,  by  contraction,  they  rob  production  and 
murder  labor. 

"Tariff  and  free  trade,"  the  shibboleth  of  corporations 
and  trusts  while  appropriating,  through  class  laws,  the 
products  of  the  country  and  fastening  serfdom  on  labor. 

Thus  much  in  passing  on  "tariff  and  free  trade." 

OF  RAILROADS. 

Our  railroad  system  is  less  than  a  half  century  old. 
The  great  invention  of  the  nineteenth  century,  and  when 
used  to  honor  God  and  bless  humanity,  they  stand  at  the 
head  of  the  column  of  benefactions  to  the  race. 

Instead  of  this  they  have  become  a  power  for  ruin  al- 
most miraculous — simply  by  their  misuse. 

In  their  construction,  fraud,  rascality,  even  crime,  has 
run  riot  as  never  witnessed  in  any  age. 

In  passing,  till  the  government  take  them  and  run  them 


io6  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

in  the  interest  of  the  people,  fraud,  rascality  and  crime 
will  go  on. 

Henry  Clews,  banker,  on  July  4,  1887,  at  Woodstock, 
Conn. :  "The  law  has  permitted  these  undertakings  to  be 
conducted  with  so  much  concealment,  misrepresentation 
and  actual  fraud  that  American  credit  has  become  a  scan- 
dal and  a  by-word.  *  *  *  Such  are  the  rewards  of 
immoral  financeering,  and  those  bad  methods  are  directly 
traceable  to  the  encouragement  afforded  by  our  negligent- 
ly constructed  laws.  *  *  *  To  illustrate. 

"Under  the  laws  of  New  York — which  are  a  fair  sam- 
ple of  the  laws  of  other  states — a  company  is  formed,  the 
persons  registering  at  Albany  the  route  of  the  road,  the 
amount  of  capital  stock  and  bonds  to  be  issued,  and  a  few 
other  particulars. 

"The  corporation  then  form  themselves  into  a  syndicate 
or  company  for  the  purpose  of  contracting  to  build  and 
equip  the  road. 

"Here  is  the  first  step  in  'crooked'  financiering.  In 
their  capacity  as  incorporators  they  make  a  contract  with 
themselves  in  the  capacity  of  constructors. 

"Of  course,  they  do  not  fail  to  make  a  bargain  to  suit 
their  own  interests.  Usually,  the  bargain  is  that  the  con- 
struction company  undertakes  to  build  the  road  for  80 
to  100  per  cent  of  the  face  value  of  the  first  mortgage 
bonds — with  an  equal  amount  of  stock,  and  also  a  certain 
amount  of  second  mortgage  bonds,  thrown  in  without 
compensation. 

The  first  mortgage  is  supposed  to  represent  the  real 
cash  outlay  on  the  construction  and  equipment.  But,  as 
a  matter  of  fact,  the  true  cash  cost  of  the  work  done  and 
materials  furnished  range  from  60  to  80  per  cent  of  the 
amount  of  the  first  lien  (first  mortgage  bonds)  which 
has  been  transferred  to  the  constructors. 

"The  construction  company  dispose  of  these  bonds,  part- 
ly by  negotiating  their  sale  to  the  public  through  bankers 
at  an  advance  upon  the  valuation  at  which  they  had  re- 
ceived them,  and  partly  by  using  them  in  payment  for 
rails  and  equipment. 

"Beyond  the  profits  made  from  building  the  road  for 
the  first  mortgage  bonds,  there  remains  in  the  hands  of 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  107 

constructors  the  entire  capital  stock,  and  any  second  bonds 
they  have  received,  as  a  clear  bonus  to  be  held  for  future 
appreciation  and  to  keep  control  of  the  company,  and  be 
ultimately  on  a  market  deftly  manipulated  for  that  pur- 
pose. This  is  the  way  our  roads  are  built. 

"The  actual  cost  of  railroads  is  less  than  one-half  the 
value  of  the  bonds  issued.  The  basis  of  discredit  is  thus 
laid. 

"They  rest  upon  an  intrinsically  rotten  and  dishonest 
foundation,  and  the  end  is  not  yet  reached. 

"The  mischief,  financially,  politically  and  socially,  has 
not  yet  been  reached.  In  a  large  number  of  cases — nearly 
all — there  has  been  financial  reconstruction.  Of  our  125,- 
ooo  miles,  with  stock  and  debt  of  $7,500,000,000,  at  least 
60  per  cent  has  gone  through  this  debt-scaling  process." 

Thus  speaks  one  of  the  most  distinguished  bankers  and 
financiers  of  the  nation.  The  bondholders  who  furnished 
the  money  get  nothing,  but  the  stockholders,  representing 
"water,"  get  all;  $2,000,000,000  represents  fully  the  real 
cost  of  the  roads.  On  this  there  is  $7,500,000,000.  Here 
is  where  the  monopoly  comes  in  that  robs  you  of  your 
products  and  crushes  labor. 

The  railroads  have  in  land  grants,  exempt  from  taxa- 
tion and  not  subject  to  settlement,  as  large  an  area  as 
New  England,  New  Jersey,  New  York,  Pennsylvania, 
Ohio,  Indiana  and  Michigan. 

There  is  left  no  place  for  the  "masses."  The  "classes" 
having  appropriated  by  a  subsidized  law  a  domain 
grander  than  that  of  Zinaas,  richer  than  that  of  Tamar 
the  Mogul,  who  robbed  Asia  for  a  thousand  years. 

The  Pacific  railroad  empire  comprises  three  thousand 
square  miles. 

This  gift  of  a  "continent"  (Wilson),  to  a  "class" — less 
than  one-hundredth  part  of  one  per  cent  of  the  people — 
is  a  crime  against  the  living,  without  a  parallel,  and  a 
treason  against  the  unborn,  that  will  never  be  for- 
given. 

Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Wisconsin,  Michigan,  Minne- 
sota, Iowa,  Nebraska,  Kansas  and  Missouri  owe  farm 


io8  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

mortgages  to  the  amount  of  $3,522,000,000,  drawing  7 
per  cent  interest. 

This  is  the  saddest  picture  on  earth.  A  country  with 
less  than  seventeen  (17)  to  the  square  mile,  reduced  to  a 
worse  than  Russian  serfdom,  or  India  herdism,  and  this 
crime  against  homes  consummated  in  twenty  years. 

OF  PRODUCTION. 

The  per  cent  of  cereals  produced  that  was  exported : 

1840 — Per  cent  of  cereals  exported 2.1 

1850 — Per  cent  of  cereals  exported 1.9 

1860 — Per  cent  of  cereals  exported 1.8 

1870 — Per  cent  of  cereals  exported 3.5 

1880 — Per  cent  of  cereals  exported  (wheat  alone)  .  .33.0 

How  did  the  farmer  fare  in  these  years?  In  1840  two 
per  cent  of  the  cereals  were  exported.  In  1880  there  was 
exported  of  one  cereal,  wheat,  thirty-three  per  cent  of  the 
amount  produced.  Did  a  protective  tariff  protect  the 
farmer?  Did  free  trade  save  labor?  or,  did  home  mono- 
poly rob  and  ruin  both? 

Here  was  a  mighty  increase  of  exporting  wheat.  Who 
got  the  profit? 

It  had  to  be  got  to  the  seaboard  before  it  took  its 
course  to  Europe. 

Is  not  production  and  labor  ruined  by  the  extortion  of 
inland  carrying  trade  before  the  seaboard  is  reached? 

Is  not  home  monopoly  the  thief  that  has  robbed  produc- 
tion and  oppressed  labor  ?  And,  while  doing  it,  to  cover  its 
piracy,  cried  "tariff  and  free  trade"? 

OF  CARRYING  BY  RAIL. 

On  page  652,  Vol.  II,  "Transportation  to  the  Sea- 
board," we  find:  "Taking  the  figures  of  the  quotations 
of  the  28th  as  our  standard,  and  we  may  say  it  costs  39 
cents  to  send  a  bushel  of  wheat  from  St.  Louis  to  New 
York.  This  is  12.4  mills  per  ton  per  mile  for  1,043  miles 
on  the  cheapest  kind  of  freight  (unless  it  be  coal)  known 
to  our  commerce,  hauled  the  maximum  distance,  with  the 
greatest  profit  to  the  company. 

"I  will  ask  you  to  compare  this  charge  with  the  cost 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  109 

admitted  by  the  Pennsylvania  company  in  their  report, 
which,  on  all  kinds  of  freight,  on  a  great  number  of  more 
or  less  profitable  lines,  was  8.98  mills  per  ton  per  mile. 
Assuming  the  cost  to  be  as  great  in  the  present  instance, 
31.2  mills  per  ton  per  mile  remain  as  profits;  or,  if  we 
take  the  more  common  rule,  that  two-thirds  of  the  gross 
receipts  are  absorbed  by  expenses,  we  have  a  surplus  of 
4.2  mills  per  ton  per  mile  remaining. 

"I  will  ask  you  further  to  note  that,  according  to 
English  reports,  coal  has  been  carried  in  quantity,  on 
roads  costing  nearly  three  times  as  much  as  our  own,  for 
3.2  mills  per  ton  per  mile. 

"In  what  I  have  said  I  have  used  St.  Louis,  one  of  the 
most  favorably  situated  business  centers  of  the  West,  to 
show  you  that,  even  from  here,  the  rates  of  freight  and 
fares  are  not  nearly  reduced  to  the  point  where  they  will 
best  subserve  the  interest  of  the  people. 

"And  the  cost  of  reaching  these  business  centers  under 
local  rates,  added,  and  the  tax  on  transportation  becomes 
prohibitory  upon  many  articles,  and  checks  agricultural, 
manufacturing  and  even  commercial  enterprise. 

"A  Tennessee  farmer,  near  Nashville,  was  required  to 
pay  7  cents  per  bushel  for  the  transportation  of  corn 
twenty-six  miles  to  the  city.  An  Iowa  fruit-grower  was 
charged  $84  freight  on  a  carload  of  apples  ninety-one 
miles,  or  nearly  a  dollar  a  mile  for  car  service." 

Two  thirds  of  the  gross  receipts  are  allowed  to  pay  ex- 
penses of  operating  the  roads.  Now  look  at  the  "scheme" 
to  make  up  the  "expenses."  Presidents  get  $25,000  to 
$50,000  per  year.  Other  high  officials  get  $10,000  to  $20,- 
ooo  annually.  Fine  offices,  buildings  palatial,  and  in  this 
way  two-thirds  of  the  entire  earnings  are  absorbed. 

The  pay  to  officers  is  four  times  as  high  as  it  ought 
to  be. 

In  this  way  both  production  and  labor  is  robbed. 

What  honesty  is  there  in  the  wild  cry,  "tariff  and  free 
trade,"  when  railroads  are  charging  for  carrying  a  bushel 
of  wheat  from  St.  Louis  to  New  York,  39  cents?  That 
will  rob  a  farmer  and  make  him  more  dependent  than  a 
Hurde  of  Persia.  It  will  reduce  labor  lower  than  the 
Helot  of  India. 


tio  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

Here  are  the  other  factors  that  have  brought  the  ruin 
of  the  past  two  decades,  as  affirmed  supra:  money  and 
transportation. 

The  fiery  road  over  which  these  twin  devils  have  lashed 
us  is  "Contract  the  volume  of  money,  raise  freights,  ex- 
tortion is  the  result."  And  while  this  scheme  of  piracy 
has  been  going  on  political  vampires  cry  "tariff  and  free 
trade." 

OF  EQUITY. 

Take  Abilene,  Kan.,  nearly  equal  distance  from  San 
Francisco  and  New  York;  nearly  the  center  between  the 
copper  mines  and  the  capes  of  Florida.  Draw  a  line  north 
and  south  through  it.  And  to  reach  New  York  from  this 
line  with  the  product  of  wheat,  28  cents  a  bushel  has  been 
paid  during  all  these  years  of  extortion. 

What  should  it  have  cost  and  paid  a  liberal  per  cent 
to  the  capital  in  the  roads  ? 

Four  cents  a  bushel! 

This  would  have  paid  a  rate  per  cent  to  the  carrier 
double  the  rate  per  cent  the  farmer  has  made  for  the 
entire  two  decades  of  years.  "On  freight,  long  distance, 
3.2  mills  per  ton  per  mile  is  sufficient." 

To  repeat:  "Cannot  the  rates  be  reduced  even  below 
this  (the  St.  Louis  rate  supra)  from  the  point  desig- 
nated?" 

"I  will  ask  you  further  to  note  that,  according  to 
English  reports,  coal  has  been  carried  in  quantity,  on 
roads  costing  nearly  three  times  as  much  as  our  own,  for 
3.2  mills  per  ton  per  mile." 

A  ton  of  wheat  is  about  thirty-three  bushels.  At  the 
rates  just  cited  a  bushel  could  be  carried  from  the  point 
given  (Abilene)  to  New  York  for  not  exceeding  4  cents 
a  bushel.  We  include  the  whole  tons  carried  by  rail  to 
get  the  true  aggregate  per  mile  for  all.  To  illustrate: 

A  ton  of  wheat  at  I  cent  a  ton  per  mile  from  St.  Louis 
to  New  York,  counting  the  distance  an  even  1,000  miles, 
would  give  the  railroad  $10.  On  this  alone  no  true  cal- 
culation can  be  based.  Note  this:  A  car  follows  with 
twelve  men  weighing  a  ton  (about  170  pounds  to  each 
man).  They  paid  $20  each  for  the  passage,  making  for 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  in 

that  car  twelve  times  twenty,  or  $240 — two  hundred  and 
forty  dollars  for  the  ton!  All  factors  must  be  used,  in 
the  transportation  problem,  to  get  the  right  ratio. 

And  then,  instead  of  28  cents  a  bushel  from  the  line 
drawn,  it  would  not  exceed  4  cents  a  bushel.  How  can 
you  beat  such  a  home  monopoly  by  crying  "tariff  and 
free  trade"? 

OF  LAND. 

"Make  haste  to  be  rich." 

This  is  the  shibboleth,  the  battle  cry  of  greed. 
Here  stands  the  church  and  the  state  repeating: 
And  this  tabernacle  of  Mammon  is  built  upon: 

1.  The  non-right  of  money; 

2.  The  non-right  of  transportation. 

3.  The  wrong  use  of  public  domain. 

Read  the  record  down  through  the  centuries  and  you 
will  find  the  robber  has  been  the  ruler. 

The  land  stolen  by  the  despot, 

The  carrying  done  by  the  syracot, 

And  money  the  triumphant  tyracot. 

These  three  children  of  greed  have  buried  every  em- 
pire, kingdom  and  state  of  the  past.  Made  the  world  ad 
van  lei — the  region  of  despair. 

The  despot  of  Egypt  stole  the  land. 

Three  out  of  one  hundred  owned  it. 

His  lineal  descendant — est  Babiloni. 

In  Babylon  two  out  of  a  hundred  owned  it. 

In  Persia  one  out  of  a  hundred  owned  it. 

In  Greece  one-quarter  of  one  owned  it. 

In  Rome  two  thousand  owned  it. 

Thf  march  of  civilization  began  in  Egypt,  died  in 
Rome. 

Eighteen  centuries  brought  death. 

Then  it  took  a  thousand  years  for  the  earth  to  rest. 

Two-thirds  of  the  race  perished. 

OF  DEBTS. 

Senator  Stewart,  of  Nevada,  in  his  speech  before  the 
United  States  senate  in  1888,  put  the  debts  of  Christen- 
dom at  one  hundred  billion! 


ii2  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

We  are  indebted  in  public  and  quasi  public  more  than 
twenty  billion.  To  this  there  is  half  as  much  more  that  is 
individual  debt. — Smeath's  tables  in  The  Money  Power. 

It  will  take  a  third  more  of  the  products  of  labor  and 
of  days'  work  to  pay  than  at  Lee's  surrender. — The  silver 
men's  letter. 

Look  at  this: 

1.  Bread   (cereal). 

2.  Meat. 

3.  Clothing. 

4.  Land,  are  each  lower  on  the  globe  than  they  have 
been  for  a  hundred  years. 

5.  Money  of  account,  of  all  nations,  is  higher  than 
for  a  century.^ — Rogers  on  Decline  of  Man. 

To  intensify  this  picture,  let  it  be  remembered  that 
Christendom — the  fairest  portion  of  earth — is  indebted 
one  hundred  billion  dollars. 

And  this  infinite  amount  is  all  to  be  paid  in  labor  and 
products  of  labor,  if  paid. 

Then  let  the  young  republic — not  one-twentieth  as  old 
as  England — take  notice  that  she  owes  thirty-five  billion 
dollars ! 

Somni  est. 

OF  MONEY. 

"Legislation  on  money  has  been  for  centuries  a  crime, 
and  has  at  last  reached  the  awful  height  of  treason  against 
humanity." — Moran. 

Legislation,  through  ignorance  and  wickedness,  has 
become  a  plot  throughout  Christendom  to  subvert  civiliza- 
tion. 

The  money  trouble  is  as  wide  as  earth.  The  most  en- 
lightened portions  suffer  most. 

These  death  throes  all  over  the  globe  are  but  the  results 
of  the  mighty  evil,  a  money  system  fundamentally  zvrong; 
a  money  system  in  its  nature  destructive  of  free  institu* 
tions. 

This  system  is  to  foster  class  distinctions. 

This  system  makes  the  rich  richer,  the  poor  poorer. 

This  system  is  the  deadly  foe  of  honest  distribution  of 
products. 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  113 

It  is  money  that  distributes. 

This  system  is  financially  the  "Mother  of  harlots." 

Her  children  are: 

1.  The  two  exceptions  in  the  greenback,  1862. 

2.  The  national  banks,   1863. 

3.  The  contraction,  1866. 

4.  The  strengthening  public  credit,  1869. 

5.  The  funding,  1870. 

6.  The  demonetizing  (silver),  1873. 

7.  The  resumption,  1875. 

The  intent  of  these  laws  and  their  legitimate  has  been, 
as  uttered  by  a  distinguished  name:  "To  rob  labor  and 
enrich  capital.  They  will  divide  the  Republic  into  two 
classes,  more  marked  than  was  the  slave-holding  and  the 
non-slave  holding  classes.  The  one  more  prescriptive, 
the  other  more  abject.  They  are  the  serpent  egg  that 
will  hatch  out  an  aristocratic  monarchy,  where  wealth  is 
god  and  where  the  rich  grow  daily  richer  and  the  poor 
daily  grow  poorer.  We  are  sweeping  on  at  a  most 
miraculous  speed  to  this  certain  end ;  this  certain  death 
of  the  great  Republic." 

That  is  true. 

The  vast  fortunes  made  since  the  war  have  been  made 
by  financial  robbery! 

To  appreciate  money  by  law  is  robbery. 

To  change  the  volume  after  debts  have  been  made  is 
to  rob  the  debtor. 

To  say  one  kind  of  money  must  be  redeemed  in  an- 
other kind  of  money  is  to  establish  a  system  of  robbery 
by  law. 

Capital,  under  corporate  name,  controlling  labor  is 
serfdom. 

The  treasury  department  is  the  bitterest  enemy  of  the 
Republic. 

It  set  in  motion : 

1.  The  contraction  policy. 

2.  The  destruction  of  greenbacks. 

3.  The  funding  of  the  debt. 

4.  The  perpetuation  of  national  banks. 

5.  The  non-payment  of  the  bonds. 

6.  The  gold  standard. 


H4  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

This  infamous  policy  is  an  ex  cathedra: 

1.  Capital  shall  rule. 

2.  Labor  serve. 

The  products  of  the  country  cornered. 

Money  appreciated  as  never  before. 

Vast  labor  energies  unemployed,  and  that  utilized  but 
just  life-sustaining  in  remuneration. 

Discontent  as  wide-spread  as  the  footprints  of  man  are 
found. 

In  the  midst  of  plenty  we  die  of  want. 

The  "earnings"  of  the  "kings  of  the  rail"  are  ample. 

While  the  pittance  of  the  "Royet  of  the  plow"  is 
mighty  small! 

The  money  power  of  Europe,  with  its  satellite,  Amer- 
ica, control  congress. 

Bank  syndicates  say,  "silver  must  go" — to  a  subordinate 
position ;  be  a  kind  of  best  man  to  gold ;  a  kind  of  Sancho 
Panza  to  a  Don  Quixote;  a  kind  of  Republican  jim-jam 
to  a  Democratic  Siam. 

Gold  to  be  king  alone. 

The  secretary  of  the  treasury  has  ceased  to  be  a  min- 
isterial officer  and  become  "Big  Sachem" — the  frame 
of  laws  to  suit  "Ole  Money  Bags,"  as  the  American  citi- 
zen of  African  blood  would  say. 

CHRISTIAN  CIVILIZATION. 

"Blinded  to  the  cry  of  millions,  whose  destitution  in- 
creases hourly,  and  has  only  ear  for  those  who  deal  in 
options,  gamble  in  stocks  and  use  the  government  as  an 
instrument  to  rob  God  and  crucify  humanity." — Brooks. 

Lack  of  honest  distribution  of  the  products  of  labor  is 
filling  earth  with  both  sorrow  and  crime. 

The  greed  of  capital,  in  its  mad  rush  for  dividends,  is 
crowding  labor  to  the  wall. 

The  cry  of  want  is  heard  in  the  midst  of  plenty. 

The  vats  overflowing  and  men  starving. 

The  fields  over-burdened  and  men  dying. 

Over-production  of  food  and  the  age  perishing. 

"Modern  conquest,  God-robbing,"  began.  "William 
the  Conquerer,  and  virtue's  ravisher"  stole  England. 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  n$ 

His  descendants,  now  titled  nobility — sui,  "land 
pirates,"  are  stealing  the  world. 

This  is  done  through  forms  of  law.  Laws  more 
desperate  in  conception  and  fearful  in  their  operation 
than  man  has  ever  known. 

This  Republic  is  in  partnership  in  the  scheme  of  spoila- 
tion. 

The  leaders  of  political  action,  the  molders  of  public 
thought,  for  twenty  years  have  been  framing  iniquity 
into  law  to  murder  humanity. 

During  this  score  of  years  there  have  been  less  pes- 
tilences, less  war,  by  30  per  cent,  than  any  like  period  of 
our  history,  and  greater  crops  by  12  per  cent.  In  spite  of 
God's  benefaction  and  the  toil  of  the  "masses,"  the 
"classes"  have  devoured  the  earth. 

They  have  secured  their  gains  by  infamy,  and  increased 
their  store  by  mendacity. 

The  lands  of  Jefferson  and  Washington  are  under  ir- 
redeemable bonds  to  the  money  power  of  the  Old  and 
New  world. 

Usury,  from  mortgaged  farms,  is  demanding  more  than 
the  soil,  at  present  prices  of  products,  will  produce. 

OF  CITIES. 

There  are  deeps  of  infamy  in  this  city  (Chicago),  sur- 
passing African  slavery.  All  womanly  instincts  are 
blighted  by  hardship,  and  the  purity  of  the  soul  crushed — 
in  selling  the  body  for  bread  to  keep  death  at  bay. 

When  beastly  slave-drivers  take  the  place  of  consider- 
ate employes  and  sell  flesh  and  bone  and  blood  for  gain, 
it  is  time  to  call  a  halt. 

£  $  $  £  fc  4t  £  4 

Talk  of  Birmingham,  Sheffield,  Edenborough,  and 
women  working  at  the  forge !  Mark  down  in  letters  black 
as  night  the  tortures  of  men,  women  and  children  under 
the  wage  system  of  England.  Say  all  that  a  hot  soul  can 
stir  up  within  you  against  it.  Speak  like  Simos  in  his 
charge  against  hell,  and  yet,  after  you  have  painted  it — 
"grim  in  damnation" — it  is  not  worse  than  the  same  sys- 
tem in  this  country. 

Women  and  girls  work  in  the  iron  rooms  in  big  manu- 


1 1 6  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

factories;  feed  machinery,  lay  their  hands  to  work — 
heavy  gross  work;  work  so  dangerous  as  to  cripple  and 
mutilate — life  is  being  wasted  in  these  murder  mills,  and 
reason  going  out  in  everlasting  night. 

The  coming  mothers  of  men  are  being  de-womanized 
— unfitted — by  unbearable  burdens  to  give  to  the  world 
the  children  of  men. 

Talk  of  heathen  child  destruction !  Here  is  refined 
cruelty,  destroying  maternity,  to  accumulate  wealth ! 

Shall  we  talk  of  England  ?  Shall  we  decry  the  British 
Isles,  where  dwell  forty-five  million  of  people,  forty  mil- 
lion of  whom  do  not  own  a  foot  of  land? 

Shall  we  talk  of  London,  with  its  three  thousand  miles 
of  streets,  where  fifty  thousand  are  shut  out  every  night? 

Shall  we  talk  of  the  commercial  city  of  the  globe,  where 
less  than  one-quarter  of  one  per  cent  hold  the  title  to 
land?  A  city  where  homes  are  denied  and  the  homeless 
made  criminals?  Shall  we  talk  of  a  nation  standing 
proudly  among  the  other  sovereignties,  where  seven  mil- 
lions of  its  people  are  fighting  death  to  prevent  starva- 
tion? 

Let  us  look  at  home ! 

New  York,  the  empire  city  of  the  western  world,  with 
its  parks,  opera  places,  palatial  houses,  where  wealth 
floats  on  golden  wings  and  sleeps  on  beds  as  soft  as  the 
down  beneath  the  sygnet's  wing. 

Look  ye !  Down  there  in  "Hanker  Alley" ;  the  "gorgon 
ground,"  just  outside  Parida's  Realm. 

There  is  festering  sin!  There  sorrow  plays  dirges  on 
breaking  heart-strings.  There  slain  children  are  seethed 
in  their  own  blood! 

Ah  me!  There  tenements  are  cesspools,  death  dance 
houses,  hell's  recruiting  station — with  two  hundred  and 
ninety  thousand  crowded  into  one  square  mile. 

Down  upon  this  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death  look 
church  spires,  whose  tops  bathe  in  the  blue,  amid 
the  rustle  of  wings,  and  whose  worshipers  own  the  tene- 
ments, where  more  than  half  of  the  children  die  before 
they  see  light. 

"Five  years  ago  it  was  $1.50  a  day ;  then  we  were  com- 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  117 

fortable.    Then  they  went  down  to  $1.25,  then  tcT$i,  and 
then  to  80  cents,  and  14  hours  a  day — barely  keeps  us 

from  starving. 

******** 

Is  God  dead?  Has  He  forgotten  there  is  nothing  left 
but  men  who  grind  the  face  of  the  poor,  who  chuckle 
when  they  can  make  a  cent  or  two  out  of  the  starving 
women  and  children  ?  It  is  seas  of  tears  that  these  men 
sail  in.  It  is  our  life  blood  they  drink.  It  is  our  flesh 
they  eat.  God  help  them  if  the  storm  comes,  for  there 
will  be  no  help  in  man. — New  York  Sewing  Women's 
Journal. 

OF  MURDER. 

Has  it  increased? 

That  life  is  cheap  and  man  desperate,  facts  are  multi- 
plying all  over  the  earth.  There  must  be  cause  for  this 
dangerous  symptom.  A  maxim  in  the  economics  of  the 
race,  shown  all  along  the  march  of  the  ages,  is  this: 

That  in  proportion  to  the  burden  that  man  has  to  bear 
will  he  deport  himself. 

If  government,  society  or  individuals  burden  men,  de- 
bauchery increases  in  the  same  ratio  that  the  burden 
grows  heavy. 

The  conditions  are  wider  now  among  men  in  our  Re- 
public than  ever  before.  The  rich  are  richer  and  the 
poor  poorer  than  at  any  period  of  the  past.  Therefore, 
murders  are  on  the  incease. 

Our  country  leads  in  this  sad  picture.  The  twenty 
years  we  are  depicting  are  the  most  sorrowful  found  on 
any  page  of  the  past,  when  compared  with  our  oppor- 
tunities. Hence,  it  is  called  the  "Age  of  Murder."  Hor- 
ace Greeley  called  it  so.  Disraeli,  prime  minister  of 
England,  called  it  so.  Facts  prove  it. 

Class  laws  grew  the  fruit.  False  statesmanship  en- 
acted the  laws.  The  nation  must  bear  the  consequences. 

The  per  cent  of  murder  in  10,000,000  of  people  is  the 
number  taken  upon  which  to  make  the  comparison. 

W.  M.  Round,  of  the  National  Prison  association :  "The 
increase  of  the  total  population  was  only  twenty  per 
cent  for  the  past  five  years,  ending  in  1884,  while  the 
increase  of  crime  was  sixty-five  per  cent." 


n8  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

General  Brinkerhooff:  "We  cannot  blink  the  fact  that 
the  tide  of  crime  is  rising.  All  concur  that  the  flood 
creeps  up  year  by  year." 

Dr.  Marshall  makes  the  comparison:  "England,  237 
murders  to  a  population  of  10,000,000;  Belgium,  240; 
France,  265 ;  Scandinavia,  266 ;  Germany,  279 ;  Ireland, 
294;  Austria,  310;  Russia,  333;  Italy,  504;  Spain,  633, 
and  the  United  States,  820  to  each  10,000,000  popula- 
tion." 

These  are  fearful  dangers,  awful  facts.  The  declension 
in  our  material  interests  point  to  the  grave.  The  tomb- 
stones which  mark  the  place  "where  the  nations  lie 
buried"  is  a  warning.  If  we  follow  their  track  we  reach 
their  end. 

Falling  prices  and  falling  wages  are  as  sure  a  sign  of 
a  dying  age  as  a  falling  pulse  of  a  dying  man. 

"CHANGE  THE  RULE/' 

Labor,  which  is  prior  to  capital,  shall  rule. 

Capital,  which  is  the  fruit  of  labor,  shall  serve.    TO  THIS 

END  ABOLISH  EVERY  FRANCHISE. 

1.  Th  „'  national  banks. 

2.  Railroad  corporations. 

3.  Telegraph  corporations. 

4.  Every  combine  and  trust. 

5.  The  nation,  in  its  sovereign  capacity  to  manage  all 
public  functions,  at  cost  of  maintenance,  in  the  interest 
of  and  for  the  whole  body  of  the  people. 

1.  Every  special  privilege  to  be  taken  away. 

2.  Every  law  to  be  alike  equal  to  all. 

3.  Every  officer  who  is  to  serve  the  people  to  be  elect- 
ed by  the  people — by  direct  vote. 

4.  Strip  office  of  all  emoluments ;  make  the  holding 
self-sustaining,  but  not  an  article  in  the  political  market 
more  desirable  than  any  other,  because  more  money  is 
to  be  made  out  of  it. 

Disfranchise  the  sellers  of  their  votes.  Send  to  the 
felon's  cell  those  who  purchase  votes. 

In  the  spirit  of  the  words  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  make  this  a 
government  of  the  people,  by  the  people  and  for  the  peo- 
ple. 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  119 

BANKS  ARE  THE  SOUL. 

It  is  the  corporation  of  all  corporations,  the  combine  of 
all  combines,  the  trust  of  all  trusts. 

The  present  mode  and  use  of  it  must  be  rooted  up  and 
annihilated.  As  it  now  stands,  it  creates  a  class  who  deal 
in  money ;  generally  they  are  wholly  ignorant  of  the  func- 
tions of  money,  and  those  who  know  suppress  their  knowl- 
edge for  the  advancement  of  their  gains. 

As  the  system  now  stands,  and  as  now  used,  it  leads  all 
other  branches  of  sovereignty  in  destroying  conscience 
and  generating  crime. 

It  is  at  the  bottom  of  the  troubles  now  shaking  Chris- 
tendom. 

The  emission  of  money  is  solely  a  sovereign  act.  To 
bestow  it  on  individuals  is  to  ultimately  ruin  them  and 
destroy  civilization.  Its  love  in  human  hearts  is  a  deadly 
distemper. 

Our  government  intensifies  that  malady  by  increasing 
selfishness  and  greed.  This  power  over  the  money  must 
be  restored  to  the  people,  who  are  the  sovereign  power. 
Let  the  government  manufacture  (make)  all  the  money 
— enough  to  do  the  business  without  credit. 

Place  in  each  state  capital,  under  proper  authority,  an 
amount  sufficient  for  that  jurisdiction. 

Then  at  each  county  seat,  where  the  titles  of  the  lands 
are  recorded,  place  enough  to  supply  the  wants  of  busi- 
ness and  demands  of  the  people. 

To  be  furnished  at  cost — on  pledge — to  be  returned  to 
the  depository  at  any  time  at  the  option  of  the  receiver. 

And  encourage  the  use  of  money,  as  we  do  the  use  of 
stamps. 

And  all  money  being  money,  as  all  stamps  are  stamps, 
it  could  no  more  be  cornered  than  can  stamps  be  cor- 
nered. 

And  there  would  be  no  more  speculation  in  money  than 
there  is  in  stamps. 

All  railroad  charters  should  be  repealed  and  the  roads 
capitalized  and  run  by  the  government,  the  agent  of  the 
people,  at  cost,  which  would  be  about  three  mills  a  ton  a 
mile,  while  under  the  present  management  it  is  about 


120  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

fourteen  mills  a  ton  a  mile.  More  than  four  times  as 
high  as  in  any  other  civilized  country. 

The  settlement  should  be  made  on  a  liberal  basis,  as 
these  franchises  have  been  granted — -which  they  should 
not  have  been. 

Give  to  those  now  in  control  their  money  and  three 
per  cent  on  it,  deducting  what  they  have  received,  less 
expense,  and  thus  the  system  would  change  without  fric- 
tion. 

7.  Take  all  the  land  granted  back — it  should  never 
have  been  granted — making  an  equitable  settlement  in  re- 
gard to  it.     Then  hold  it  for  homes  exclusively,  to  be 
ready  when  needed.    And  not  to  pass  from  public  domain, 
except  for  homes,  to  be  determined  as  to  amount,  by 
actual  occupancy  and  use. 

That  not  needed  for  use  to  be  held  by  the  government, 
the  agent,  as  public  domain.  If,  while  it  is  public  domain, 
any  wish  to  use  it  for  grasses  or  any  other  appendage, 
so  as  not  to  injure  it,  let  them  use  it,  paying  for  the  use, 
and  the  money  so  received  to  go  into  the  public  treasury 
to  lessen  taxes. 

In  order  to  make  those  holding  large  grants  willing  to 
let  them  come  back  to  the  people,  let  them  be  taxed  double 
the  amount  of  occupied,  used  lands.  This  would  decen- 
tralize land,  increase  homes  and  diffuse  happiness. 

No  non-resident  alien  should  own  land  in  this  country 
— no  land  should  ever  have  been  sold  to  them.  Change 
the  law  and  give  them  reasonable  time  to  sell.  If  they  do 
not  sell,  then  the  government  (the  agent)  should  pay  them 
a  just  price  for  their  lands  and  let  it  become  public  do- 
main, as  all  other  lands,  except  those  occupied  and  used 
as  homes. 

8.  Tax  all  the  lands   (except  the  public)   and  raise 
balance  of  revenue  to  support  the  government,  if  any  is 
needed,  by  an  income  tax,  beginning  above  one  tihousand 
dollars.     Inaugurate  and  encourage  a  policy  to  enable 
each  family  to  secure  a  home — actual  occupancy  cmd  use 
to  be  the  title — paying  for  it  the  cost  of  allotment,  setting 
it  from  the  public  domain. 

Exempt  such  home  of  the  family  to  the  amount  of  one 
thousand  dollars  from  taxes  and  all  liens. 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  121 

Natural  gifts  to  the  race,  stored  in  the  earth,  beneficial 
to  man,  should  be  under  the  control  of  the  government, 
the  agent,  and  worked  for  the  benefit  of  all  the  people 
alike. 

These  general  outlines,  if  utilized,  will  make  this  earth, 
in  some  degree,  what  seers,  prophets,  patriots,  men  in  all 
ages  by-gone,  have  prayed  for,  sung  of,  and  which  we 
think  the  Bible  promises,  justice  requires  and  humanity 
is  now  crying  for  with  a  cry  that  moves  the  heart  of 
God. 


"WE  BELIEVE  IT,  BILL  NYE." 

THE  NOBLEST  PRODUCTION  OF  THE  AGE. 

The  subjoined,  taken  from  The  Great  West,  Denver, 
Col.,  is  so  pertinent  to  the  question  of  the  hour,  so  grand 
in  scope,  and  coming  from  the  ablest  song  writer  of  the 
human  race,  impells  us  to  reproduce  it  in  The  People's 
Advocate,  so  that  all  may  have  the  supreme  felicity  of 
drinking  from  the  sea  of  thought. 

It  is  a  great  state  paper  and  is  addressed  to  the  presi- 
dent-elect, tendering  advice,  encouragement  and  service 
on  two  of  the  most  important  subjects  ever  presented  to 
the  human  mind — "Canals"  and  "Ingins." 

On  these  questions,  startling  alike  to  all,  that  profound 
and  sagacious  statesman,  Bill  Nye — who  overcame  the 
"Heathen  Chinee"  in  that  "wondrous  game,"  made  im- 
mortal in  song  by  Bret  Harte — tenders  his  brain,  pen 
and  intimates  that  if  the  life  of  the  nation  requires  it  he 
will  take  office. 

More  touching  pathos  is  not  to  be  found  than  are  the 
words  addressed  to  the  sage  of  Mentor: 

"Use  lead  pencil."  *  *  *  "Swear  a  little  if  it  re- 
lieves you."  *  *  *  "Spell  cabbage  with  a  *k'  if  in  a 
hurry."  *  *  *  "This  canal  business."  *  *  * 
"Confide  in  me."  *  *  *  "Pour  out  your  soul." 
*  *  *  "Cabinet  position."  *  *  *  "Let  a  poor 
man  have  it  in  my  place." 

That  about  the  song  is  too  touching  for  utterance.  The 
president  can  never  fail  with  such  men  around  him.  It 


122  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

is  the  grandest  state  paper  fulminated  since  the  flood, 
and  in  the  light  of  it  there  can  be  no  doubt  but  what  it 
will  secure  for  the  writer  the  important  place  of  secretary 
of  state. 

BILL   NYE   THROBS   ALONE   FOR   "THE  GREAT   WEST/' 

Hon.  f.  A.  Garfield,  Mentor,  Ohio: 

Laramie  City,  W.  T.,  January  3. — DEAR  SIR:  I  have 
been  trying  for  some  time  to  write  you,  and,  no  doubt, 
you  have  been  very  impatient  because  I  did  not  do  so, 
but  I  have  been  in  a  good  deal  of  a  hurry  for  the  past 
few  months,  having  the  Indian  question  and  some  other 
important  matters  on  hand. 

I  am  aware  that  nearly  every  one  has  the  start  of  me 
in  frankly  admitting  to  you  that  they  secured  your  elec- 
tion. But  I  still  hope  that  it  is  not  too  late. 

No!  I  cannot  tell  a  lie.  It  was  the  subscriber  who 
brought  about  the  gratifying  result.  I  haven't  the  time 
to  go  on  and  show  you  how  I  did  it,  and  unless  you  insist 
upon  it  I  will  omit  the  tedious  details. 

However,  the  victory  is  due  very  largely  to  a  campaign 
song  that  I  wrote.  It  was  the  most  touching  little  gem 
that  the  great  world  of  song  ever  knew.  It  was  called 
the  ?'New  Adjustable  Campaign  Song,"  and  was  so  ar- 
ranged by  means  of  a  thumb-screw  and  movable  types 
that  it  could  be  used  with  your  own  name  or  General 
Hancock's.  The  ideal  was  to  save  time  and  the  wear 
and  tear  of  intellect.  You  know  what  a  mental  strain 
it  must  require  to  bring  forth  a  melodious  chunk  or  cam- 
paign song. 

Well,  the  Republicans  did  not  adopt  this  song  for  some 
reason.  Maybe,  they  thought  it  lacked  soul  or  expres- 
sion of  intellectual  stiffness.  Any  way,  they  declined 
to  buy  township  rights  of  the  author  at  the  nominal  price 
charged. 

The  Democracy,  however,  purchased  the  song  and 
worked  it  in  the  doubtful  states.  Need  I  say  more  ? 

Wherever  that  campaign  song  of  mine  struck  it  left 
death  and  desolation.  It  was  the  most  deadly  gob  of 
melody  that  I  ever  hurled  at  a  long-suffering  public. 

Let  people  go    right    on  attributing    this    victory  to 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  123 

Conkling,  or  General  Grant,  or  Elaine,  or  Dorsey,  or 
Kelly,  but  you  and  I  away  down  in  our  secret  souls, 
away  from  the  prying  gaze  of  the  hungry  world,  well 
know  that  there  was  a  hidden  cause  for  this  National 
triumph. 

Probably  you  will  wish  to  acknowledge  this  little  favor 
of  mine,  and  in  your  generous,  impulsive  way  you  will 
ask  me  to  select  a  cabinet  position,  but  do  not  do  so.  Let 
some  poor  man  have  it  in  my  place. 

The  life  of  the  ostensible  humorist  has  its  little  blotches 
of  gloom,  of  course;  and  yet  is  not  devoid  of  sunshine. 
It  is  not  sunshine  with  so  much  glory  as  the  office  of  sec- 
retary of  state,  but  a  man  feels  less  restraint.  He  can 
go  home  in  the  night  and  take  off  his  coat  and  vest,  and 
eat  a  dish-pan  full  of  twenty  ounce  pippins,  and  swear  at 
the  hired  girl,  and  stand  off  his  grocer  and  it's  nobody's 
business.  The  great,  cold  world  of  selfishness  and  cast- 
iron  cussedness  cannot  enter  there. 

The  newspaper  man  may  not  be  honored  much,  but 
he  can  spit  in  the  wood  box  and  have  a  pretty  good  time 
if  he  has  a  clear  conscience  and  liver  that  he  can  depend 
upon. 

Public  life  never  had  any  charms  for  me.  I've  served 
my  constituents  now  over  four  years  as  justice  of  the 
peace,  and  yet  during  that  whole  time  I  often  looked  back 
upon  the  glad  life  I  led  before  I  had  been  made  the  re- 
cipient of  public  favor.  While  I  assessed  the  simple 
drunk  $5  and  trimmings  with  a  glad  smile,  the  casual 
observer  little  knew  that  in  my  breast  there  lingered  a 
great  yearning  grief  for  the  days  that  were  gone,  when  I 
lived  simply  on  $11  a  month  and  recked  not  for  the 
future. 

You  will  find  it  in  that  way,  too.  Now  you  feel  pretty 
tickled  because  you  are  elected  president,  and  you  think 
peace  will  settle  down  upon  you.  Wait  till  you  are  hold- 
ing a  big  reception  some  time,  and  all  the  great  men  and 
pretty  women  are  present,  and  all  eyes  are  upon  you 
and  your  off  suspender  button  adjourns  and  rolls  along 
the  floor,  then  you  will  wish  you  were  back  in  some  bosky 
dell  of  your  childhood's  days,  apart  from  the  jostling 
throng  where  you  could  pull  off  your  coat  and  vest  and 


124  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

jab  a  white-oak  plug  through  your  waistband  and  hitch 
your  suspender  on  it  and  be  at  rest. 

Ah,  there  is  something  about  this  praise  and  adulation 
of  men  that  don't  seem  to  fill  the  aching  void.  What  we 
need  in  this  country  is  less  adulation  and  more  under- 
clothes and  pie. 

Now,  any  time  you  get  stuck  on  your  policy  or  want 
any  good,  pregnant  thoughts  to  work  in  on  your  mes- 
sage, I  just  wish  you  would  feel  perfectly  free  to  call  on 
me  and  I'll  give  my  ideas  just  as  cheerfully  as  though 
you  had  political  claims  on  me.  You  will,  no  doubt, 
want  a  few  suggestions  on  the  Mormon  question  during 
your  administration. 

I  will  cheerfully  fill  you  up  with  brain  food  of  this 
character  free  of  cost. 

Feel  perfectly  free  at  any  time  to  write  me  on  this 
subject,  and  write  naturally  and  use  your  own  language. 
Swear  a  little  if  it  relieves  you.  Use  a  lead  pencil  and 
spell  just  as  you  would  if  you  were  not  writing  to  a  great 
man.  Spell  cabbage  with  a  "k"  if  you're  in  a  hurry. 

You're  liable,  too,  to  have  trouble  with  this  canal  busi- 
ness. Confide  in  me  about  it.  Pour  out  your  soul  to  me 
and  I  won't  give  you  away. 

You  think  you  know  all  about  canals,  but  you  don't. 
You  don't  know  the  very  A  B  C  of  this  business.  You 
need  a  calm,  clear  intellect  that  you  can  turn  on  in  a 
moment.  You  need  a  wise,  mature  judgment  that  you 
can  uncork  when  your  own  is  dry.  That's  the  kind  you 
will  have  the  command  of  by  addressing  the  subscriber. 
That's  the  kind  of  rich,  juicy  wart  of  intellect  he  is  the 
proprietor  of.  Then  there  is  the  Indian  question.  That 
will  be  up  for  consideration  again  this  spring  as  soon 
as  horse  radish  is  ripe. 

Then  you  will  probably  need  a  tall,  able-bodied,  bald- 
headed  mental  giant  to  lean  on.  You'll  begin  to  look 
around  among  your  cabinet  for  the  proper  man,  but  he 
will  be  busy  drawing  his  salary.  That  never  annoys  me. 
I'm  always  at  leisure. 

Be  open  and  frank  with  me  and  I'll  be  the  same  with 
you.  If  your  administration  don't  suit  me  I'll  tell  you, 
and  you  mustn't  get  mad  about  it.  I'll  just  point  out 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  125 

where  you've  missed  it,  and  then  you  will  know  how  to  do 
hereafter.     Sincerely  yours,  BILL  NYE. 

P.  S. — If  you  want  a  good  man  to  send  as  minister  to 
the  Cannibal  Islands  I  have  one  in  my  mind.  He  is  in 
good  order.  Will  weigh  200  live  weight,  and  has  an  ac- 
count against  me  for  $61.25.  B.  N. 


"A  SAFE  INVESTMENT." 

That  is  the  cry  of  the  bond-mongers — "A  safe  invest- 
ment." 

Thus  cries  Fernando  Wood,  and  he  tells  capitalists 
that  the  best  investment  is  the  3  per  cents.  He  says  the 
government  bond  affords  a  safe  depository  for  surplus 
funds — for  funds  altogether. 

Well,  what  if  they  do  ? 

The  government  is  in  a  gimblet-hole  business  when  it 
reduces  itself  to  the  estate  of  furnishing  a  safe  place  to 
hide  money. 

Such  a  business  is  a  partnership  with  thieves,  the  gov- 
ernment acting  the  ignoble  part  of  concealing  the  stolen 
goods. 

Money  is  a  "tool"  of  trade  and  has  no  right  to  be  hid 
away  in  inactivity.  The  government  has  no  authority  to 
furnish  a  safe  investment  for  money,  thereby  destroy- 
ing the  very  life-blood  of  business.  Money  is  a  thing  for 
action — not  of  rest. 

It  must  course  through  the  veins  of  business  in  cease- 
less activity,  as  does  the  blood  course  in  activity  the  veins 
of  the  body,  or  the  body  of  business  will  die,  as  the  body 
of  man  would  die  if  the  blood  ceased  to  circulate. 

Let  the  money  of  the  country  come  out  of  this  safe, 
dead  hole  and  take  its  chances. 

This  safe  investment  business  is  a  crime. 

What  would  you  think  of  Mr.  Wood  if  he  should  get 
a  bill  up  in  congress  entitled,  "A  safe  place  to  store  farm- 
ing implements"  ? 

It  is  a  place  that  the  tooth  of  time,  neither  sunshine  nor 
rain  can  affect. 

"Farmers,  put  into  this  safe  place  your  plows,  drags, 


126  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

reapers,  mowers ;  your  hoes  and  your  shovels,  and  neither 
mildew  nor  rot,  fire  nor  flood,  Greenbacker  or  Communist 
can  affect  them.  The  government  will  pay  you  3  per 
cent  per  annum  on  them." 

What  would  you  think  of  that  kind  of  a  bill  to  fund 
our  farming  tools?  How  long  would  such  a  policy  fur- 
nish our  fine-haired  congressmen  bread  or  whisky? 

Why  fund  the  "tool"  of  trade  by  which  exchanges  are 
made  in  a  safe  place?  Stop  its  making  exchanges.  It  is 
just  as  big  a  crime  as  to  put  the  "tool"  by  which  wheat 
is  raised  in  a  house  so  as  to  be  safe. 

Speak  again,  Mr.  Wood,  so  that  we  may  know  whether 
you  are  Balaam  or  Balaam's  . 

"The  Money  Power." 

The  great  danger  to  the  Republic. 

Its  object  to  reduce  labor  to  serfdom — as  in  Europe. 

The  way  to  destroy  this  power. 


SPEECH  AT  PITTSBURG,  PA.,  1885—;.  HARPER. 

For  two  decades  of  years  the  money  power  has  been 
supreme. 

The  money  power  is  the  greatest  enemy  of  the  Repub- 
lic. 

The  money  power  is  the  bitterest  foe  of  free  institu- 
tions. 

The  money  power  controls  the  executive. 

The  money  power  holds  the  senate. 

The  money  power  cajoles  the  house,  making  it  a  tail 
to  the  senate,  and  a  shuttlecock  to  the  president. 

The  money  power  is  the  bulwark  to  tyranny,  the  de- 
stroyer of  civilization. 

The  money  power  is  treacherous. 

The  money  power  controls  the  press. 

The  money  power  has  crept  into  the  church  and  is  be- 
sliming  that  eden  of  hope. 

The  money  power  accomplishes  its  ends  by  deceit. 

The  money  power  apes  the  truth  to  establish  sin. 

With  God  on  the  lip,  its  heart  is  Satan's  seat. 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  127 

With  "public  honor"  as  its  shibboleth,  it  passes  laws 
which  libel  all  "honor." 

With  "public  credit"  on  its  banner,  it  has  bankrupted 
the  country. 

The  money  power  abets  every  mean  act  known  to  the 
catalogue,  under  the  guise  of  truth. 

And  turns  the  truth  into  a  lie  to  deceive  and  ruin  the 
people. 

The  money  power  for  twenty  years  has  shouted,  "This 
must  be  done  for  the  good  of  the  people." 

The  good  of  the  people  has  been  its  promise,  the  ruin 
of  the  people  its  ^vork. 

The  money  power  has  the  soul  of  a  ghoul,  and  the 
greed  of  a  vampire. 

The  money  power  lives  but  to  make  the  rich  richer 
and  the  poor  poorer. 

The  money  power  knows  no  law  but  self,  no  god  but 
Mammon. 

The  money  power  has  absolute  usufruct  of  the  ma- 
chinery of  the  Republican  and  Democratic  parties. 

The  potency  that  executes  the  decrees  of  the  money 
power  is  the  national  banks. 

Not  till  there  is  a  party  formed  outside  of  both  these 
parties  and  not  controlled  by  the  money  power,  will  relief 
come  to  the  country. 

Be  warned. 

The  cry  of  the  siren  is  already  heard. 

Like  the  jackal,  who,  before  attacking  its  prey,  pro- 
claims its  peaceful  habits ;  so  do  these  gregarious  jackals, 
who  hunt  in  packs,  proclaim  their  "love  for  the  people." 

Their  love  is  that  of  the  hyena  for  the  lamb. 

Their  warning  is  the  hiss  of  the  serpent  as  it  fastens 
its  fangs  in  your  flesh. 

"Look  out  for  betrayal !" 

"The  lurid  heavens  declare  it  everywhere." 

The  Republican  Pilates  and  Democratic  Herods  are 
now  in  the  temple  planning  the  crucifixion  of  another 
Christ  of  humanity. 

The  house  is  full  of  good  promises,  big  speeches  and 
wind. 


1 28  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

The  senate,  where  every  trust  has  been  betrayed,  every 
truth  sacrificed  and  the  people  sold,  there  is  a  tempest. 

"The  broad  sword  is  unsheathed" — 

And  you  would  think,  if  words  in  that  body  meant 
anything,  then, 

"Heaven's  come  down  our  souls  to  greet, 
And  glory  crowns  the  mercy  seat." 

But  this  is  the  song  of  Delilah,  to  put  you  to  sleep,  so 
that  in  your  dreams  you  may  be  shorn  of  your  locks. 

The  senate  has  denounced  every  attempted  wrong 
against  the  people  since  the  war;  then  enacted  that  "ivrong 
into  law. 

Let  the  good  men  in  that  body  get  out  of  it,  for  they 
are  as  much  out  of  place  in  it  as  an  innocent  girl  is  in  a 
Turkish  harem. 

A  master,  whose  pictures  shall  last  as  long  as  time, 
has  drawn  these  tyrants,  who  promise  "bread,"  but  give 
a  "stone"— 

"The  policies  that  result  in  cruelty  and  the  laws  that 
oppress  in  their  execution,  are  the  policies  of  deceit  and  the 
enactments  of  treachery." 

The  promotors  of  such  policies  are  hypocrites,  and  the 
authors  of  such  laws  are  traitors.  And  this  is  not  para- 
doxical, for  the  advocates  of  vile  policies  and  the  cham- 
pions of  bad  laws  have  always  proclaimed  themselves  de- 
fenders of  the  people. 

Indeed,  they  have  declared,  with  almost  infinite  im- 
pudence, that  what  they  did  was  injurious  to  them,  but 
of  the  highest  importance  to  the  people. 

These  abnegating  gentlemen  are  aptly  epitomized  by 
the  proverb: 

"A  honey  tongue,  a  heart  of  gall." — (Daniel  Webster 
in  1838.)  How  truly  the  twenty  years'  legislation,  from 
the  end  of  the  war  to  1884,  can  be  set  down  as  a  honey 
tongue,  a  heart  of  gall! 

On  the  25th  of  February,  1862,  the  money  power  de- 
manded two  exceptions  to  be  placed  on  the  "greenback." 

The  infamous  demand  was  denounced  in  both  the  sen- 
ate and  the  house  as  a  cruelty  to  the  people  unparalleled 

"The  money  power  had  its  way." — (O.  P.  Morton.) 

The  people  were  betrayed. 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  129 

On  the  25th  of  March,  1863,  the  money  power  de- 
manded the  "National  Banks." 

That  act  is  as  anti-American,  is  as  anti-Republican,  as 
is  Queen  Victoria  herself,  and  as  despotic  as  the  doctrine 
of  primogeniture.  It  was  denounced  in  both  the  senate 
and  the  house  as  class  law,  that  would  ultimately  "enslave 
labor." 

"The  money  power  had  its  way." 

The  people  were  betrayed. 

On  the  6th  of  January,  1866,  the  money  power  demand- 
ed an  act  authorizing  the  contracting  of  the  currency, 
in  order  to  reach  "specie  payments."  In  the  language  of 
Hugh  McCulloch,  "to  reach  a  gold  standard." 

A  greater  crime  was  never  conceived,  and  its  execution 
was  murderous  as  the  greed  of  Shylock  could  make  it. 

It  was  denounced  in  both  the  senate  and  the  house  as 
"legal  robbery  of  the  people." — (Reynolds.) 

"The  money  power  had  its  way." 

The  people  were  betrayed. 

On  the  i8th  of  March,  1869,  the  money  power  de- 
manded an  act  to  "strengthen  the  public  credit." 

An  infamy  that  overshadows  every  name,  who  knew 
what  he  was  doing,  with  a  pall  as  black  as  that  which 
damns  the  betrayer. 

It  was  denounced  in  both  the  senate  and  the  house  as 
"robber  of  the  many  to  enrich  the  few." — (Davis.) 

"The  money  power  had  its  way." 

The  people  were  betrayed. 

On  the  1 4th  of  July,  1870,  the  money  power  demanded 
an  act  to  fund  the  bonds. 

"A  sin  against  children  unborn  as  damnable  as  was 
Herod's  against  the  living." — (Harvey.) 

It  was  denounced  in  both  the  senate  and  the  house  as 
"a  mandate  against  prosperity,  a  decree  against  honesty." 
—(Phillips.) 

It  filled  the  coffers  of  the  fund  holders  and  emptied  the 
bins  of  the  plow  holders.  One  it  made  a  Satrap,  the 
other  a  Helot. 

"The  money  power  had  its  way." 

The  people  were  betrayed. 

On  the  I2th  of  February,  1873,  the  money  power  de- 


130  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

manded  an  act  demonetizing  silver — that  the  "silver  unit" 
be  stricken  out  and  the  "gold  unit"  substituted. 

A  foreigner  represented  the  money  power — and  wrote 
the  law. 

'He  used  money  to  secure  the  passage  of  the  law  and 
boasted  of  it  after  it  was  done. — (Prof.  Willey.) 

While  this  treason  against  our  domestic  affairs  was 
being  carried  on  by  secret  emissaries,  our  congress  "slum- 
bered and  slept." 

No  warning  voice  was  raised. 

But  the  nightmare  of  death  brooded  over  the  halls 
where  liberty  was  being  sold  to  money  mongers  and 
despots  of  Europe. 

It  was  an  act  of  sin  never  to  be  forgiven ;  a  crime  never 
to  be  extirpated;  a  treachery  without  a  parallel. 

"The  money  power  had  its  way." 

The  people  were  betrayed. 

After  the  act  was  done,  it  was  denounced  by  both  the 
senate  and  the  house  as  "purchased  legislation,"  as  a 
"sell-out  of  the  people." 

But  the  iniquity  stood  and  stands  to-day — the  gold  unit 
remains. 

On  the  1 4th  of  January,  1875,  the  money  power  de- 
manded and  secured  "the  last  step  in  this  march  of 
death,"  the  confiscation  act. 

A  scheme  of  "villains"  to  secure  what  they  called  specie 
resumption. 

A  scheme  to  "equalize,"  not  "redeem,"  money.  It  was 
an  act  of  premeditated  wickedness,  the  blackest  that  ever 
disgraced  the  page  of  a  statute  book. 

And  the  men  back  of  it  wrote  themselves  down  as 
enemies  of  the  race. 

It  was  denounced  in  both  the  senate  and  the  house  as 
a  crime  against  man's  right  to  earn  his  bread. 

"The  money  power  had  its  way." 

The  people  were  betrayed. 

The  harms  growing  out  of  it  were  so  great  that  the 
people  demanded  some  redress,  and  the  legislation  of 
1878  gave  two  million  dollars  a  month. 

It  was  the  only  alleviation. 

But  the  money  power  said,  "Silver  must  be  crushed." 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  131 

So  silver  has  been  hounded  by  the  whole  "gang  of 
money  thieves,"  till  at  last  the  president,  in  abject  servil- 
ity, bows  to  them  and  yields  the  country  into  their  hands. 

The  secretary,  "cringing  and  sniffling,"  also  bows  to 
this  "god  of  gold." 

"His  heart  and  the  heart  of  the  money  power  beats 
in  unison." 

"Thus  the  heart  appeals  to  God." 

Shall  it  be  said  again: 

"The  money  power  had  its  way." 

"Supreme  for  twenty  years." 

That  is  the  record. 

What  next? 

1.  A  gold  standard. 

2.  A  bonded  debt  in  perpetuo. 

3.  Silver  demonetized. 

4.  Greenbacks  destroyed. 

5.  The  national  banks  perpetual ;  the  volume  of  money 
under  their  control — they  the  supreme  arbiters  of  money; 
the  volume  to  shrink  and  swell  at  the  will  of  the  money 
power. 

The  fight  is  for  the  life  of  the  Republic. 

The  money  power  must  surrender,  or  free  institutions 
perish. 

Shall  the  president,  senate  and  house  all  prove  a  honey 
tongue,  a  heart  of  gall? 

Which? 

The  answer: 

The  principle  of  the  Greenback  party,  backed  by  a  ma- 
jority and  enforced,  must  triumph  before  relief  "Mil  come. 

DANGERS. 

"The  mystic  ocean  of  unrest  is  world  wide." — Dis- 
raeli. 

"The  nations  are  drifting." — Salisbury. 

"The  upheaval  of  humanity  is  just  at  hand  that  shall 
re-map  the  globe." — Napoleon  III. 

"Dynamite  is  heralding  a  new  era." — Julius  Jerome. 

"The  storms  now  shaking  earth  are  the  forerunner  of 
the  re-genesis." — Simpson. 


132  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

Look  where  you  will,  and  you  find  the  fiery  words  of 
the  Seer  actualizing  into  history,  "Evil  shall  go  forth 
from  nation  to  nation." 

The  governments  are  drifting  into  the  old  grooves  that 
end  in  destruction. 

"Capital  haughty,  labor  sinking,  the  end  nearing." — 
Ludwick. 

Wages  fell  from  Egypt  to  Rome,  over  a  period  of 
eighteen  hundred  years. 

Then  the  hiatus  was  reached. 

Labor  sank  to  seven  cents  a  day. 

The  epitaph  of  that  age  was  Death. 

Wages  have  been  falling,  falling,  falling,  and  we  are 
reaching  the  next  hiatus — twenty-eight  cents  a  day  the 
globe  over. 

Lower  than  at  any  time  for  a  hundred  years. 

"A  falling  wage  brings  us  to  death ;  a  falling  price  to 
ruin."- — Vision  of  the  Blessed. 

"The  Republic  ought  to  be  -happy." — Stoddard. 

Is  it? 

Are  the  conditions  happifying? 

Seventeen-twentieths  of  the  wage-workers  of  Christen- 
dom are  within  thirty  days  of  starvation. 

The  three-twentieths  are  richer  than  were  the  haugh- 
tiest lords  that  reigned  from  Egypt  to  Rome. 

"Material  prosperity  never  had  an  equal." — London 
Letter. 

Who  owns  this  wealth? 

Less  than  one-quarter  of  one  per  cent  of  the  people. 

The  national  debt,  the  state  debts,  and  all  other  corpora- 
tion debts  amount  to  twenty  thousand  million  dollars. 

This  almost  infinite  amount  draws  an  average  annual 
interest  that,  after  a  scant  living,  it  takes  the  entire  sur- 
plus products  to  pay,  and  leaves  two  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  million  dollars  unpaid  ever)''  year. 

Less  than  one-quarter  of  one  per  cent  thus  have  a  mort- 
gage on  us  that,  under  the  present  policy,  will  last  for- 
ever. 

We  have  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand  trifles 
of  railroad,  costing  about  two  thousand  million  dollars. 

Who  owns  them  ? 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper,  133 

The  same  less  than  one-quarter  of  one  per  cent. 

There  is  five  thousand  million  dollars  watered  stock 
piled  on  top,  swelling  the  sum  to  seven  thousand  million 
dollars. 

On  this  infinite  sum  is  wrung,  by  an  extortion  deeper 
in  crime  than  was  slavery,  ten  per  cent  annually. 

Making  the  "kings  of  the  rail"  the  most  despicable 
tyrants  that  the  sun  of  civilization  ever  shone  upon. 

And  by  their  rapacity,  under  the  forms  of  purchased 
law,  they  degrade  labor  and  production  to  a  state  of 
bondage  not  long  to  be  endured. 

These  monopolies  of  transportation  have  also  a  land 
gift,  munificent  as  an  empire — as  large  as  nine  states  like 
Ohio. 

The  telegraph,  costing  some  twenty  million  dollars,  is 
watered  up  to  eighty  million  dollars. 

Who  own  them  ? 

The  same  one-quarter  of  one  per  cent. 

And  on  this  superstructure  of  crime — three-quarters 
•water,  one-quarter  cash — this  little  class  of  law's  favor- 
ites declare  a  dividend  of  fifteen  per  cent. 

Happy  one-quarter  of  one  per  cent. 

They  own  the  railroads. 

They  own  the  telegraph. 

They  own  the  national  debt. 

They  own  the  quasi-public  debt. 

They  own  twenty-four  hundred  national  banks. 

These  banks  rest  upon  the  debt  (bonds)  they  own — 
untaxed  debt. 

On  this  debt  they  are  given  90  per  cent  in  notes  to 
loan  as  money. 

With  these  gifts  and  franchises  they  are  omnipotent — 
while  the  law  sustains  them. 

And  so  they  have 

Monopolized  the  land. 

So  that  there  are  more  tenants  than  land  owners. 

Who  shall  help  us? 

They  have  monopolized  the  coal. 

They  have  monopolized  the  oil. 

They  have  monopolized  the  precious  metals. 

They  have  crushed  labor. 


134  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

Wages  have  fallen  for  twenty  years. 

Salaries  have  raised. 

Until  the  burden,  the  sorrow,  the  ruin,  has  grown  into 
a  mighty  wail  that  reaches  from  sea  to  sea. 

Greater  business  depression  than  was  ever  known. 

Society  trembles  as  never  witnessed  before. 

Failures  are  increasing. 

Penitentiary  offences  are  increasing. 

Murder  on  the  increase. 

Lunacy  on  the  increase. 

Suicide  on  the  increase. 

Divorce  on  the  increased. 

And  the  assassination  of  our  rulers  shocks  the  great 
Republic  as  a  sign  of  dissolution. 

From  the  top  to  the  bottom  there  is  gangrene. 

The  executive,  chosen  because  of  his  fitness  to  represent 
the  nation,  as  its  head,  aptly  epitomizes  our  civilization 
— a  father  but  not  a  husband — he  cannot  be  expected  to 
rise  above  the  tide  that  swept  him  to  his  present  place. 

As  a  people,  so  their  rulers. 

A  nation  is  known  by  its  laws. 

"Corrupt  enactments  by  designing  men -are  the  first- 
sown  seeds  of  death." — Henry  Clay. 

The  policies  have  been  corrupt  ever  since  the  war. 

The  legislation  class. 

The  result: 

Millionaires  on  one  side,  representatives  of  their  class. 

Tramps  on  the  other  side,  representatives  of  their  class. 

The  road  is  the  same  other  nations  have  trod. 

The  end  will  be  the  same. 

THE   CONSPIRACY  OF   WEALTH. 

The  history  of  the  twenty  years  since  the  war  is  the 
darkest  in  our  annals.  The  inside  workings  and  the  out- 
side manifestations  of  secret  and  open  enemies  have  re- 
sulted in  a  financial  despotism — a  conspiracy  of  wealth  to 
rule  the  Republic! 

The  treasury  department,  as  it  has  been  manipulated, 
is  the  government,  and  the  government  is  a  tyrant. 

Facilis  descensus  Averni.    I  wrote  in  1866 :  "The  finan- 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  135 

cial  question  is  the  problem  of  the  age.  The  liberty  and 
happiness  of  the  people  depend  upon  the  rightful  settle- 
ment of  it."  I  was  laughed  at  for  my  pains.  A  man  of 
fame  said  of  it:  "The  gentleman  knows  as  much  about 
finance  as  he  does  about  business,  and  he  knows  nothing 
about  either.  All  we  have  to  do,  to  get  out  of  the  ex- 
treme situation  forced  upon  us  by  the  war,  is  to  return 
to  a  gold  standard — so  much  for  the  problem  of  the  age." 
I  have  repeated  the  warning  during  all  these  sickening 
years,  and  the  people  refused  to  believe — and  now  ruin 
is  upon  them. 

"Currency  reform  is  first  in  the  order  of  importance 
and  of  time,  and  fitly  precedes  all  other  reforms,  even  tax- 
ation reform,  because  it  will  facilitate  all  other  reforms, 
and  because  it  cannot  safely  be  deferred."  Thus  the  sec- 
retary talks  after  twenty  and  more  years  of  "financial 
tinkering." 

The  "Conspiracy  of  Wealth"  to  rule  the  Republic, 
through  our  money  system,  began  during  the  war.  Fos- 
tered and  fed  by  the  leaders  of  two  great  parties  during 
these  twenty  years  it  became  a  tyrant — "dangerous  to 
free  instituions."  These  years  have  been,  in  the  words 
of  Harvey,  the  "despot's  hour  in  the  great  Republic." 

Even  amid  the  cannon's  roar,  the  secret  enemy  sought 
its  opportunity:  "Slavery  is  likely  to  be  abolished  by  the 
war  power,  and  chattel  slavery  be  destroyed."  This,  I 
and  my  European  friends,  are  in  favor  of,  for  slavery  is 
but  the  owning  of  labor,  and  carries  with  it,  to  care  for 
the  laborer,  while  the  European  plan,  led  in  by  England 
is:  capital  control  of  labor  by  controlling  wages.  This 
can  be  done  by  controlling  the  money.  The  great  debt 
that  capitalists  will  see  to  it  is  made  out  of  this  war,  must 
be  used  as  the  means  to  control  the  volume  of  the  money. 
To  accomplish  this  they  (the  bonds)  must  be  used  as 
the  banking  basis.  We  are  now  waiting  to  get  the  secre- 
tary of  the  treasury  to  make  this  recommendation  to 
congress.  It  will  not  do  to  allow  the  "greenbacks,"  as 
they  are  called,  to  circulate  as  money  any  length  of  time, 
for  we  cannot  control  them,  but  we  can  control  the  bonds, 
and  through  them  the  bank  issue.  Such  is  the  language 
in  Hazzard's  circular  of  1862. 


136  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

Thus  the  foreign  emissary  wrote,  and  it  is  curious  that 
the  secretary  did  make  just  such  a  recommendation  to 
congress  as  this  agent  asked  for.  Here  it  is : 

"It  (the  greenback)  should  be  regarded  only  as  an  ex- 
pedient for  emergency.  No  measure,  in  my  judgment, 
will  meet  the  necessities  of  the  occasion  and  prove  ad- 
equate to  the  provision  of  the  great  sums  to  be  required 
for  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion,  which  does  not  in- 
clude a  firm  support  to  the  public  credit,  through  the  es- 
tablishment of  a  uniform  national  circulation,  secured  by 
the  bonds  of  the  United  States,"  said  S.  P.  Chase,  secre- 
tary. 

That  was  an  order  of  march  to  the  city  of  the  dead. 
The  national  banking  system  is  the  deepest  laid  plan  to 
corrupt  honesty  and  destroy  liberty  ever  conceived  by 
man.  It  has  proved  to  this  country  a  destruction  more 
horrible  than  the  hurricane.  It  has  caused  more  tears 
and  produced  more  suffering  than  pestilence.  It  has 
robbed  the  masses  more  ruthlessly  than  war,  and  has  been 
more  deadly  than  famine.  It  was  brought  forth  against 
the  solemn  warnings  of  the  sages  of  the  past,  and  given 
power  that,  if  not  checked,  will  subvert  the  Republic. 

The  two  exceptions  on  the  back  of  the  greenback  were 
put  there  at  the  dictation  of  the  bankers.  Thad  Stevens 
said  of  this  legislation:  "Yes,  we  had  to  yield.  We  did 
not  yield  till  we  found  the  bankers  had  to  be  gratified  or 
the  country  lost."  And  looking  forward  to  the  horrors 
of  this  system  of  class  laws  and  bank  syndicates,  he  said : 
"When  a  few  years  hence  the  people  shall  have  been 
brought  to  bankruptcy,  I  shall  have  the  satisfaction  of 
knowing  I  did  all  I  could  to  prevent  it." 

The  "greenbacks"  were  thus  stabbed  in  the  back  as  a 
part  of  the  Catalinian  conspiracy  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury. A  distinguished  foreigner  (Ludback)  said:  "There 
is  likely  to  be  an  effort  made  by  the  capital  class  to  fasten 
upon  the  world  a  rule  through  their  wealth,  and  by  means 
of  reduced  wages,  place  the  masses  upon  a  footing  more 
degrading  and  dependent  than  has  ever  been  known  in 
history.  The  spirit  of  money  worshippers  seems  to  be 
rapidly  developing  in  this  direction." 

Another  great  man,  Wendell  Phillips,  said:  "The  day 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  137 

shall  come  when  capital,  in  corporate  monopoly  form, 
will  shake  this  government  to  its  center.  And  if  the  peo- 
ple are  not  Spartan  in  virtue  and  Baconian  in  wisdom, 
the  Republic  will  be  subverted  and  an  oligarchy  of  wealth 
reared  on  the  altar  where  liberty  was  sacrificed.  The  sen- 
ate of  the  United  States  is  fast  reaching  this  end  ;  the  exec- 
utive branch  has  been  the  bulwark  of  the  wealth  class 
and  the  mightiest  power  to  oppose  labor.  These  two 
branches  in  the  hands  of,  and  controlled  by,  money  in 
corporate  form  will  make  the  popular  branch  of  govern- 
ment, the  lower  house,  a  mere  tail  to  the  kite  of  ruin." 

In  spite  of  these  warnings,  the  Bank  Act  came,  as  void 
of  truth  as  hell  is  of  hope.  Then  came  the  new  secretary, 
Hugh  McCulloch,  and  these  words  leaped  from  his 
mouth:  "The  first  thing  to  be  done  is  to  establish  the 
policy  of  contraction/' 

The  "Conspiracy  of  Wealth,"  in  this  utterance,  as  ef- 
fectively betrayed  honest  toil  and  legitimate  business,  as 
did  the  Judas  when  he  sold  the  Christ  for  thirty  pieces  of 
silver. 

It  was  a  declaration  of  war  against  happiness. 

It  was  a  mandate  issued  against  prosperity. 

It  was  a  mittimus  to  fill  the  poorhouses  with  the  desti- 
tute ;  the  land  with  tramps ;  the  prisons  with  felons,  and 
the  asylums  with  the  demented. 

It  was  a  decree  against  the  hopes  of  man;  a  death- 
stroke  at  the  heart;  it  was  murderous! 

It  was  followed  by  order  No.  2,  issued  by  the  same 
general :  "That  the  legal-tender  acts  were  war  measures, 
passed  in  great  emergency ;  that  they  be  regarded  only  as 
temporary ;  that  they  ought  not  to  remain  in  force  a  day 
longer  than  would  be  necessary  to  enable  the  people  to 
prepare  for  a  return  to  the  gold  standard;  and  that  the 
work  of  retiring  the  notes  which  have  been  issued,  should 
be  commenced  without  delay,  and  carefully  and  persist- 
ently continued,  until  all  are  retired." 

Under  this  inhuman  order  the  people  passed  into  the 
valley  of  the  shadow  of  death.  The  Christ  of  humanity 
was  •  crucified  between  two  political  thieves.  And  the 
Apocalyptic  drama — death  upon  the  pale  horse  and  death 
following — was  enacted. 


138  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

An  ordeal  of  fire  raged,  till  more  than  ten  thousand 
millions  of  dollars  of  property  were  transferred  from 
ninety  per  cent  of  the  people  into  the  hands  of  ten  per 
cent  of  the  people,  at  less  than  twenty  per  cent  of  its 
value. 

Then,  the  "Conspiracy  of  Wealth,"  emboldened  by 
their  success,  by  this  scheme  of  political  chicanery, 
rushed  into  the  temple  of  liberty  and  procured  from 
congress  that  treacherous  Confiscation  Act. 

"Resolved,  That  this  house  cordially  concurs  in  the 
views  of  the  secretary  of  the  treasury  in  relation  to  the 
necessity  of  contracting  the  currency,  with  a  view  to  as 
early  a  resumption  of  specie  payments  as  the  business  in- 
terests of  the  country  will  permit ;  and  we  hereby  pledge 
co-operation  to  this  end  as  speedily  as  possible." 

That  is  as  infamous  an  act — whether  men  know  it  or 
not — as  ever  disgraced  the  page  of  a  statute  book.  That 
"resolution"  turned  this  fair  land  into  a  "Black  Hole  of 
Calcutta,"  where  men  were  smothered  to  death  by  busi- 
ness suffocation.  Under  its  blighting  influence  the  springs 
of  life  dried  up;  hcrpe  perished.  Amid  its  consuming 
ravages  a  ruined  people,  a  3ying  nation 

"Marched  into  the  jaws  of  death 
Into  the  gates  of  hell." 

Millionaires  sprang  from  it  as  do  death  fumes  from 
the  tomb.  Tramps,  the  legitimate  offsprings  of  million- 
aires— thronged  the  highways  of  the  age  as  thickly  as 
camp  fires  dot  the  halls  of  pandemonia.  The  "Conspi- 
racy of  Wealth"  at  this  point  entered  fully  upon  the  field 
of  national  conquest.  It  built  the  "Bridge  of  Sighs" — 
over  which  the  nation  has  been  passing  for  twenty  years. 

*  *  *  The  glint  of  the  coming  storm  begins  to 
light  the  earth.  The  old  prophets  are  actualizing  in- 
to history.  "Evil  shall  go  forth  from  nation  to  na- 
tion." The  agents  of  despots  from  abroad,  and  money 
mongers  at  home,  have  conspired  together  to  usher  in  the 
golden  ages — the  millennium  of  self,  where  wealth  shall 
be  defied  and  Labor  enslaved! 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  139 

Infamous  laws.  Look  at  the  laws  made  for  the  one- 
quarter  of  one  per  cent  class: 

1.  The  act  of  Congress  of  1862  placing  two  excep- 
tions on  the  greenback  dollar. 

2.  The  act  of  Congress  of  1863  creating  the  national 
banks. 

3.  The  act  of  Congress  of  1866  contracting  the  cur- 
rency— a  law  to  make  less  money  and  more  bonds. 

4.  The  act  of  Congress  of  1869,  that  changed  the  con- 
dition of  payment  of  the  5-20  bonds  from  payment  in 
paper  money  to  payment  in  coin ;  also  making  the  green- 
backs redeemable  in  coin — gold  and  silver. 

5.  The  act  of  Congress  of  1870  authorizing  the  fund- 
ing of  the  bonds. 

6.  The  act  of  Congress  of  1873  demonetizing  silver, 
thereby  making  our  debt  payable  in  gold  alone. 

7.  The  resumption  act  of  1875. 

These  laws  are  essentially  class  enactments.  By  tneir 
force  they  create  and  perpetuate  a  class.  They  are  not 
"equal  and  exact  justice  to  all  men  with  special  privileges 
to  none." 

The  writer  of  this  article,  in  1877,  in  Milwaukee,  after 
reciting  the  several  laws  above  set  out,  used  the  follow- 
ing language :  "These  laws  bring  us  down,  by  their  in- 
exorable operation,  to:  I,  a  single  gold  standard  as  a 
measure  of  value ;  2,  a  bonded  debt  never  to  be  paid ;  3, 
bank  paper  issued  on  these  bonds,  inflated  and  contracted 
at  the  will  of  the  bank  corporations — inflation  and  con- 
traction being  the  soul  and  spirit  of  banking," 

For  the  use  of  this  language  the  press,  both  Demo- 
cratic and  Republican,  roundly  abused  me.  A  prominent 
Republican  paper  said :  "The  man  who  used  such  words 
against  the  Republican  party  was  either  a  knave  or  a 
fool."  A  Democratic  paper  of  national  circulation  said: 
"Such  lingo  is  a  monstrous  libel  on  the  Democracy,  who 
have  opposed  banks  from  the  days  of  Jefferson." 

I  said  further:  "The  policy  of  the  leaders  of  both  the 
old  parties  has  been  deceitful ;  fair  to  the  ear,  but  treach- 
erous to  the  heart.  That  they  said  one  thing  in  their 
platforms,  but  shaped  the  laws  and  official  utterances  af- 
firming the  exact  opposite  of  their  platforms." 


140  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

Thus  armed,  the  "Conspiracy  of  Wealth"  has  grown 
in  twenty  years  to  be  the  money  power. 

Managed  by  a  bank  syndicate,  with  the  privilege  of 
issuing  and  controlling  the  volume  of  money,  it  has  be- 
come almost  infinite. 

Its  work  is  seen  everywhere.  The  railroads  are  manip- 
ulated, indeed  owned  by  it.  The  telegraph  does  its  bid- 
ding. And  both  these  have  been  formed  into  monster 
monopolies,  by  the  same  "Conspiracy  of  Wealth."  Their 
stocks  are  watered  to  the  overwhelming  sum  of  five  thou- 
sand millions  of  dollars.  The  land — the  heritage  of  the 
people — is  under  its  blight,  and  is  fast  passing  from  the 
many  to  the  few. 

The  debts,  the  greatest  curse  of  all,  are  wholly  under 
the  control  of  this  "devil  fish  of  ruin." 

Having  the  control  of  the  volume  of  the  money  debt, 
and  the  interest  on  it,  it  is  also  under  its  control. 

This  is  the  fearful  condition  of  the  country,  and  so 
long  as  the  system  continues,  the  result  will  be  making 
the  rich  man  richer  and  the  poor  man  poorer.  Not  on 
the  principle  of  equivalent  for  equivalent,  which  is  equity. 
But  on  the  principle — non-principle  rather — of  robbing 
the  poor  man  of  his  mite  to  enhance,  to  almost  infinite 
proportions,  the  riches  of  the  rich  man.  This  is  the 
condition  today. 

And  so  infamous  has  the  cause  been  that  society  shows 
signs  of  dissolution.  Failures  have  increased  during 
the  whole  twenty  years,  taken  together.  Felonies  have 
increased,  murders  have  multiplied,  lunacy  has  become 
alarming;  suicide  exceeds  all  that  has  gone  before;  di- 
vorce— breaking  up  of  the  marriage  relation,  the  most 
deadly  sign  of  decay  of  all — has  become  indeed  a  danger 
almost  infinite,  and  the  depth  has  been  reached  of  assassi- 
nating our  rulers. 

These  calamities  have  increased  at  a  ratio  greater  than 
in  any  former  period  of  our  history,  as  compared  with 
our  population. 

Thus  we  have  glanced  over  the  period  since  the  war, 
to  refresh  our  minds. 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  141 


WICKED   DEMANDS   FOR   THE   FUTURE. 

But,  it  is  asked,  were  there  no  restrictions  on  these  vast 
powers?  We  are  sorry  to  say,  but  few.  And  they  were 
opposed  in  their  enactment  with  all  the  force  that  could 
be  rallied.  Now  the  restrictions  that  in  the  least  degree 
hinder  the  absolute  control  of  this  power  it  is  asked  to  re- 
move. More  than  that;  this  haughty  Conspiracy  of 
Wealth  asks  for  still  greater  privileges  so  that  its  excath- 
edra  may  be  law,  its  mandate  supreme. 

Act  of  February  25,  1862,  authorizing  the  greenback. 
Look  at  two  of  Conspiracy's  demands:  It  asks  that  the 
greenback  shall  not  be  reissued  under  the  law  of  1878; 
that  the  law  authorizing  its  reissue  shall  be  repealed,  the 
greenback  redeemed  in  gold,  and  then  under  the  Resump- 
tion Act  the  greenback  destroyed. 

This  done,  we  would  have  no  legal  tender  money 
except  gold  coin  of  all  denominations  and  silver  dollars 
(not  parts  of  the  dollar).  This  would  add  power  beyond 
calculation  to  the  "Conspiracy  of  wealth"  and  make  it 
a  danger  almost  omnipotent. 

But  if  you  would  take  the  two  exceptions  out  of  the 
greenback  and  make  it  full  legal  tender  for  all  demands, 
it  would  be  a  miracle  of  blessing  to  the  people  beyond 
human  estimate  and  would  at  the  same  time  stab  to  the 
heart  with  a  mortal  wound  the  "Conspiracy  of  Wealth." 

The  Treasury  Department  is  for  the  "Conspiracy  of 
Wealth"  and  against  the  people. 

The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  instead  of  taking  the 
"two  stabs"  out  of  the  greenback  and  making  it  full 
money,  is  for  stabbing  it  entirely  to  death  and  putting  it 
out  of  existence ! 

The  act  of  March  25,  1863,  creating  the  national  banks 
is  left  as  it  was,  with  arguments  for  the  enlargement  of 
its  privileges. 

There  are  three  bills  now  pending  before  the  Lower 
House  for  the  advancement  of  bank  interests,  viz.,  the 


142  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

McPherson  bill,  the  Dingley  bill  and  the  Potter  bill.  The 
Secretary  says  there  is  but  a  small  amount  of  national 
bank  issue  out,  but  if  what  he  asks  is  granted,  then  the 
banks  will  swell  the  volume  at  once. 

The  Act  of  1866,  authorizing  the  contraction  of  the 
currency,  has  so  effectually  done  its  work  as  to  give  us 
less  than  nine  dollars  per  capita  in  actual  circulation, 
while  in  1864,  1865,  and  1866,  before  this  act  had  af- 
fected the  volume,  there  was  seventy-two  dollars  per 
capita — and  as  a  result,  during  the  three  years  named, 
being  a  thousand  and  ninety-five  days  in  time,  there  was 
not  as  many  failures  in  business  as  there  was  in  the  first 
twenty-one  days  of  1885. 

The  act  of  1869,  to  "strengthen  the  public  credit,"  so 
called,  has  accomplished  its  work  and  been  to  the  coun- 
try a  baptism  of  blood,  a  holocaust  of  hell,  and  will  damn 
every  man  who  went  into  it  knowing  what  he  did.  That 
act  made  the  bonds  and  greenbacks  payable  in  "gold  and 
silver  coin."  The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  as  special 
plunderer  for  Shylock  and  agent  of  the  "Conspiracy  of 
Wealth,"  wants  the  bonds,  if  paid  at  all,  paid  in  gold 
alone. 

The  act  of  1870,  to  fund  the  debt,  has  achieved  its 
mission  of  plunder.  The  enormity  of  that  act  no  pen  can 
tell.  It  can  be  said  of  it  as  was  said  of  Satan's  fall: 
"Hell  was  moved  from  beneath  to  meet  its  coming." 

When  this  funding  machine  was  being  created,  a  ma- 
chine that  was  to  build  a  city  in  blood  and  pave  the  streets 
with  the  muscles  of  men,  "heaven  stood  appalled  and  hell 
rang  with  jubilee." 

"The  6  per  cent  bonds  have  been  funded  into  4  per 
cents,"  cry  the  Shylocks.  Yes,  and  labor  knows  that  it 
takes  a  third  more  day's  work,  each  ten  hours  long,  to 
pay  $4,000  annual  interest  on  a  $100,000  bond  than  it 
did  in  1866  to  pay  $6,000,  the  annual  interest  on  the  same 
$100,000  bond.  While  you  have  taken  off  one-third  of 
the  rate  of  interest,  you  have,  by  your  infernal  money 
conspiracy,  added  a  weight  one-third  heavier  to  the  bur- 
dens. You  have  robbed  labor  while  uttering  the  hypo- 
critical cry  of  "helping  labor." 

Bonds  once  payable  in  five  years  now  reach  thirty,  and 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  143 

must  be  paid  once  and  three-quarters  in  interest  before 
the  principal  can  be  paid.  And  both  principal  and  in- 
terest, during  these  years  of  sorrow,  are  exempt  from 
taxation. 

Yet,  in  your  schemes  to  overreach  the  people  you  have 
overreached  yourselves,  and  the  bonds  are  now  all  due 
and  payable. 

The  act  of  1873,  demonetizing  silver,  has  been  a  kind 
of  hang-fire,  a  hiatus.  Silver  was  partially  restored  in 
1878,  but  leaving  the  feature  most  deadly  still  in  the  law 
— making  25.8  grains  of  gold  coin  the  unit  or  dollar,  th'e 
measure  of  value.  This  was  a  crime,  committed  by  the 
"Conspiracy  of  Wealth,"  that  history  will  write  against 
it. 

And  those  who  knew  about  it  and  did  the  work,  will 
he  held  as  betrayers  of  the  liberties  of  their  country  to 
the  demands  of  foreign  despots  and  home  enemies. 

The  act  of  1875,  the  resumption  law,  a  masterpiece  of 
sin,  has  caused  a  ruin  wide  as  the  continent.  It  has 
caused  sorrow,  deep  as  human  suffering  can  make  it.  It 
has  robbed  as  no  act  ever  did.  It  was  as  black  in  con- 
ception as  incendiarism.  It  was  more  horrible  in  execu- 
tion than  the  work  under  the  black  flag  on  the  Spanish 
main  in  the  i6th  century. 

All  these  horrors,  all  these  wrongs,  are  to  be  condoned. 
The  government  is  to  pass  them  all  by  in  silence.  The 
march  forward  is,  to  be : 

1.  A  gold  standard; 

2.  Banks  of  issue ; 

3.  The  "Conspiracy  of  wealth"  supreme. 

This  is  all  there  is  of  the  "financial  reform"  asked  for 
by  the  administration. 

Such  a  financial  policy  destroys  government  of  the  peo- 
ple, by  the  people  and  for  the  people. 

Such  a  financial  policy,  such  a  "financial  reform,"  as 
asked  for  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  burns  down 
the  temple  of  liberty,  and  rears  upon  its  ashes  a  govern- 
ment of  a  class,  by  a  class  and  for  a  class — and  that  class 
less  than  one-quarter  of  one  per  cent. 

And  of  them  it  can  be  truly  said:  "No  good  man  ever 
became  rich  all  of  a  sudden,  all  at  once." 


144  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

Immense  and  rapid  fortunes,  generally  speaking,  are 
acquired  by  fraud  or  violence. 

"CURSED  BE  THE  MAN  THAT  FIRST  LOVED  GOLD/' 

Thus  sang  old  Anacreon  twenty-five  centuries  ago : 
During  all  these  years  gold  has  been  a  curse — made  so 
by  its  lovers. 

Let  the  whole  race  of  gold- worshippers  be  cursed. 

Let  them  find  no  standing  ground  upon  earth. 

Let  them  go  to  their  own  place — when  the  Judas  went. 

"Gold,  gold,  in  all  ages,  the  curse  of  mankind, 
Thy  fetters  are  forged  for  the  soul  and  the  mind." 

Let  the  golden  calf  be  burned. 

Let  its  ashes  be  thrown  upon  the  stream  of  death  to 
be  borne  to  its  native  home. 

Let  the  idol  that  robs  God  of  worship  and  man  of  hon- 
esty, find  no  rest  outside  the  pit. 

"A  currency  in  which  our  monetary  unit  is  coined  in 
gold." — Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

That  is  the  gold  standard. 

A  gold  standard  in  the  great  Republic. 

And  the  world  seventy-five  billion  dollars  in  debt. 

A  gold  standard. 

And  the  Republic  owing  twenty  billion  dollars  regis- 
tered debt. 

A  gold  standard. 

And  this  nation  and  its  people  individually  owing  ten 
billion  dollars. 

A  gold  standard. 

The  demand  of  despots. 

The  concession  of  fools. 

THE  BANK  SPIRIT. 

"The  disorders  of  our  currency  chiefly  arise  from  the 
operation  of  two  enactments:" 

i.  The  act  of  February  28th,  1878,  which  has  been 
construed  as  a  permanent  appropriation  for  perpetual 
Treasury  purchase  of  at  least  $24,000,000  worth  of  silver 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  145 

per  annum,  although  from  cases  mostly  foreign,  that 
metal  is  now  of  mutable  and  falling  value,  which  must 
be  manufactured  into  coins  of  unlimited  legal-tender  and 
issued  to  the  people  of  the  United  States,  as  equivalents 
of  our  monetary  unit. 

2.  The  act  of  May  31,  1878,  which  indefinitely  post- 
poned fulfillment  of  the  solemn  pledge,  (March  18, 
1869)  not  only  of  "redemption,"  but  also  of  payment" 
of  all  the  obligations  of  the  United  States  not  bearing 
interest,  legalized  as  $346,0x30,000  paper  money  of  un- 
limited legal-tender,  and  required  the  post-redemption 
and  issue  and  reissue  of  these  promises  to  pay  dollars, 
as  equivalent  of  our  monetary  unit.  But  these  two  evils, 
which  are  each  a  separate  menace  to  the  public  tranquility 
and  injurious  to  the  public  morals  and  the  public  faith, 
etc. — Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

Take  that  fulmination  of  the  Secretary,  altogether,  and 
it  amounts  to  a  non  sequitar.  There  are  two  untruths  in 
it  and  one  assumption  which  amounts  to  a  falsehood. 

The  spirit  that  gave  birth  to  the  national  banks  is  the 
only  spirit  that  could  make  such  an  onslaught  upon  mor- 
ality, justice  and  truth. 

To  make  such  a  declaration  as  that  in  a  State  paper, 
under  oath,  is  simply  monstrous. 

1.  The  United  States  notes  (greenbacks)  are  not  un- 
limited legal  tender. 

They  ought  to  be,  they  ought  to  have  been  made  so. 
But  they  had  two  exceptions  on  them — they  are  there 
now. 

2.  On  the  1 8th  of  March,  1869,  when  the  so-called  act 
to  strengthen  the  public  credit  was  passed,  gold  was  not 
the  "unit"  of  our  monetary  value. 

That  act  (March  18,  1869),  speaks  of  both  gold  and 
silver,  and  says: 

"The  United  States  is  solemnly  pledged  to  the  pay- 
ment in  coin,  of  all  its  obligation,  and  the  United  States 
pledges  its  faith  for  the  redemption  of  the  United  States 
notes  in  coin." 

The  Funding  act  of  July  14,  1870,  makes  all  the  funded 
bonds  payable  in  coin  of  the  weight  and  fineness  of  that 
date. 


146  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

All  this  the  learned  Secretary  well  knew  when  he 
penned  his  wonderful  report. 

It  was  February  12,  1873,  that  silver  was  demonetized, 
and  the  "gold  unit"  established. 

When  the  money  despots  got  such  control  of  our  Treas- 
ury Department  as  to  change  our  monetary  unit. 

On  that  dreadful  night  when,  as  Judge  Kelly  puts  it, 
such  men  as  Voorhees  and  Elaine  were  side-tracked  and 
the  "unit"  secretly  changed. 

The  monetary  unit  was  changed  from  silver  to  gold. 

Then  it  was  that  the  despots  of  Europe — 

"Came,  they  saw,  they  conquered." 

The  silver  unit  of  371  1-4  pure  silver,  412  1-2  standard 
was  dropped. 

And  25  and  8-tenths  standard  gold  was  made  the  "unit 
of  value." 

From  April  2,  1792,  when  the  fathers  established  the 
"unit"  or  "dollar,"  all  the  way  down  our  history,  till  the 
I2th  of  February,  1873,  371  1-4  grains  of  pure  silver  was 
our  monetary  unit. 

The  change  to  a  gold  "unit"  under  circumstances 
that  taints  the  affair  with  indexes  of  conspiracy  is  a 
danger  that  the  Secretary  seems  to  have  no  conception  of. 

Let  the  American  people  learn  the  sooner  the  better : 

That  the  act  of  1878  only  restored  partly  our  silver 
money — two  million  a  month,  and  not  exceeding  four — 
and  it  did  not  repeal  the  clause  in  the  act  of  February 
12,  1873,  that  changed  our  monetary  unit  to  gold. 

Let  it  be  remembered  forever — 

That  act,  February  12,  1873,  which  changed  our  unit 
from  silver  to  gold,  is  an  act  that  will  consign  to  infamy 
all  who  knowingly  took  part  in  it. 

And  now  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  asks  to  have 
the  act  of  1878,  authorizing  two  million  dollars  a  month 
repealed. 

Then  we  shall  be  under  the  act  of  February  12,  1873, 
with  a  golden  unit — with  a  golden  dollar  that  has  appre- 
ciated (by  the  aid  of  law)  forty  per  cent  in  ten  years. 
That  will  put  us  fately  on  the  road  to  ruin. 

We  demand  as  a  citizen:  that  the  act  of  February  12, 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  147 

1873,  that  surreptitiously  fastened  the  golden  unit  on  us, 
shall  be  repealed  and  the  silver  monetary  unit  restored. 

The  recommendations  of  the  Secretary  are  in  the  in- 
terest of  the  few  and  against  the  interests  of  the  people 
at  large. 

The  recommendations  ask  for  the  repeal  of  just  laws 
and  the  retention  of  bad  ones.  The  laws  asked  to  be  re- 
pealed, defective  as  they  are,  have  saved  the  country  from 
a  ruin,  but  for  them  would  have  been  overwhelming. 

The  reissue  of  the  legal-tenders  and  the  giving  us  of 
two  million  dollars  a  month  have  been  the  means  of  sav- 
ing a  remnant  of  liberty  and  property  to  the  people. 

The  Secreatry  now  asks,  under  the  guise  of  a  nonsequi- 
tor,  that  these  laws  be  repealed  in  the  interest  of  good 
morals. 

Bah! 

THE  CRIME  OF  GOLD. 

The  Secretary  asks  this: 

That  an  unjust  law  (February  12,  1873),  may  remain 
to  ruin  the  people. 

A  gold  standard  will  ruin  them. 

To  change  to  a  gold  unit,  after  our  immense  debts 
were  made  on  a  silver  unit. 

Was  so  unjust  as  to  allow  of  no  palliation. 

It  was  a  crime. 

To  repeal  that  law  and  come  back  to  the  silver  unit 
under  which  the  debts  were  made. 

Is  the  demand  of  justice. 

THEIR  DOOM   IN  SIGHT. 

What  is  the  matter  with  the  disciples  of  self? 
What  is  the  trouble  in  the  camp  of  the  army  of  pelf  ? 
Does  the  galled  jade  begin  to  wince,  Ah,  ha! 
This  cry  of  gold  is  the  serene  song  of  greed. 
This  "gold  standard"  is  the  watchword  of  a  conspiracy 
to  rob. 

A  Secretary  at  the  end  of  the  war  said : 
"Come  to  the  gold  standard." 


148  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

The  cry  was  raised  while  the  ground  was  soaking  with 
the  blood  of  the  fallen  heroes. 

The  attempt  to  carry  such  a  decree  into  actual  fact, 
would  fill  the  world  with  a  wider  ruin  than  famine,  pesti- 
lence and  war  combined. 


THE  CRY  A  LIE. 

What  do  these  "money-changers"  want? 

The  object  is  not  to  make  actual  gold  payments. 

But  to  measure  in  gold. 

Then  pay  in  something  else. 

The  debtor  paying  the  difference  between  two  kinds  of 
money. 

The  creditor  getting  it. 

Thus  making  gold  a  tyrant  in  the  hands  of  a  few  des- 
pots— and  the  people  turned  to  helots  to  fill  graves  of 
despair. 

This  is  the  feast  to  which  we  are  invited. 

It  is  the  missionaries  of  greed  proclaiming  the  millen- 
nium of  self. 

THE   CREDIT   DEVIL. 

The  legal-tender  quality  of  the  United  States  notes 
(greenbacks),  was  not  always  looked  upon  as  "injurious 
to  morals." 

No. 

When  national  bank  issue  is  to  be  "redeemed,"  then  the 
greenback  is  the  "redeemer." 

We  challenge  contradiction  of  the  following: 

Make  all  the  national  bank  issue  redeemable  in  gold,  on 
demand,  under  penalty  of  death. 

And  a  national  banker  could  not  be  found  in  the  world. 

Bankers  do  not  propose  to  redeem  their  notes,  in  fact. 

The  promise  is  a  sham. 

A  specie  paying  banking  system  is  a  fraud — a  lie. 

It  never  existed,  in  fact. 

It  never  will. 

What  is  all  this  clamor  about,  anyway? 

"Is  old  earth  reeling  to  a  fall  ?" 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  149 

Here  it  is. 

It  is  to  reduce  the  volume  of  the  legal-tender  money. 

That  is  what  the  howl  along  the  whole  line  means. 

What  are  these  "single  standard"  fellows  aiming  at? 

Here  is  the  answer: 

To  get  control  of  the  volume  of  the  money. 

What  these  "gold-bugs"  are  driving  at,  put  in  another 
form,  is: 

To  secure  the  exclusive  right  to  sell  their  credit  on 
time  and  get  pay  in  hand,  and  also  get  interest  on  the 
credit,  during  the  time  it  runs. 

To  measure  the  credit  thus  sold,  they  want  control  of 
the  unit  of  value. 

The  smaller  the  number  of  "units,"  the  easier  con- 
trolled. 

The  smaller  the  number  of  units,  the  more  valuable  the 
credit  sold. 

This  is  all  there  is  of  the  "financial  reform"  of  the 
Secretary. 

The  national  banks — and  they  are  the  power  behind 
the  throne — want  the  unit  of  value,  stamped  on  some- 
thing, so  scarce  and  so  little  of  it,  that  they  can  "corner" 
it. 

And  by  controlling  the  material  of  the  "unit"  they  con- 
trol the  volume. 

And  it  is  the  volume  of  the  money  that  fixes  prices. 

THE  SLY  DODGE 

"To  keep  this  sly  dodge"  in  the  dark,  my  boys,  ways 
that  are  dark  and  tricks  that  are  vain  must  be  resorted  to. 

This  "convertible  into  coin  on  demand"  is  one  of  them. 

It  is  the  most  dastardly  lie  that  ever  belched  from  the 
throat  of  a  Shylock  to  rob  a  helot. 

A  specie  paying  banking  system  is  a  contrivance  to 
cheat  labor. 

The  record  this  "contrivance"  has  made  reads  like  the 
diary  of  a  buccaneer. 


150  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 


THE  CONFIDENCE  GAME. 

"It  is  far  better  to  fix  the  maximum  of  legal-tender  notes 
at  $300,000,000  supported  by  a  minimum  reserve  of  $100,- 
000,000  of  coin.  A  demand  for  coin  to  exhaust  such  a 
reserve  may  not  occur,  but,  if  events  force  it,  then  it 
would  justify  a  temporary  suspension  of  specie  pay- 
ments." 

That  is  the  way  "another  Secretary"  sets  it  up. 

Three  hundred  million  United  States  notes  resting  on 
one  hundred  million  coin. 

Three  dollars  in  paper  to  be  "redeemed"  in  one  of 
coin.  These  Secretaries  of  the  Treasury  have  a  way  of 
thinking  that  such  a  plan  would  be  safe  guardian  for  pub- 
lic morals  and  a  giant  to  shield  the  public  faith. 

Hear  them  talk  when  under  the  inspiring  influence  of 
their  religious  fervor: 

"General  confidence  in  these  notes  (United  States) 
would  maintain  them  at  par  in  coin,  and  justify  their  use 
as  reserves  of  banks  and  for  the  redemption  of  bank 
notes." 

There  is  specie  payments  for  you. 

There  is  "honest  money." 

There  is  a  system  of  lying  that  beats  Simon  Luggs. 

United  States  notes  (greenbacks)  bottomed  on  two- 
thirds  confidence  and  one-third  coin  as  a  bank  basis.  And 
this  "paper  money"  (greenbacks)  is  to  be  used  for  the 
"redemption"  of  bank  notes. 

A  DOUBT  BY  A  SAINT. 

But  at  this  point  the  faith  of  the  inventor  of  this  "con- 
fidence game"  became  a  little  weak.  A  paper  "redeemer," 
supported  by  two  dollars  in  confidence  and  one  in  coin  to 
every  three  dollars,  might  fail. 

So  this  same  learned  Secretary,  to  make  his  bank  sys- 
tem safe  beyond  all  doubt,  made  bank  paper  redeemable 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper  151 

in  Government  paper,  then  prated  like  an  owl  about  re- 
deemable paper,  and  said  national  bank  paper  was  good — 
"the  best  the  world  ever  saw." 


THE  SAINT  SPEAKS. 

"But  all  experience  has  shown  that  there  are  periods 
under  any  system  of  paper  money,  however  carefully 
guarded,  when  it  is  impossible  to  maintain  actual  coin 
redemption." 

To  meet  this  contingency  it  would  seem  to  be  right  to 
maintain  the  legal-tender  quality  of  the  United  States 
notes. 

That  one  paragraph  consigns  to  the  place  of  Judas  the 
whole  specie  bosses  system  as  a  fraud  unparalleled — as  a 
lie  unsurpassed. 

It  is  impossible  to  maintain  actual  coin  redemption  of 
bank  paper. 

O !  wisdom ! 

Therefore  "keep  legal-tender  paper  money  to  redeem 
them." 

THE  SECRETARY. 

Like  the  weeping  goddess  in  the  valley  of  sorrow ; 

Is  baptised  in  his  own  sea  of  tears — Because  the  "re- 
demption" of  the  never-failing  "redeemer"  of  bank  notes 
has  been  "indefinitely  postponed." 

Let  Congress  pass  at  once  an  act,  requiring  each  person 
to  cry  thirty  days,  and  abstain  from  liquid  stimulant  for 
twenty-four  hours. 

Then  shall  the  world  move  gaily  on. 

Then  shall  tumult  cease. 

Then  shall  civil  service  become  a  thing  of  beauty  and 
a  joy  forever. 

And  then  the  millennial  years,  running  as  smoothly  as 
the  oil  on  Aaron's  beard,  shall  go  tripping  by. 


152  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 


A  QUESTION   ANSWERED. 

"Is  the  land  passing  from  the  many  to  the  few?" — /. 
Wilson. 

Answer:  For  sixty-five  years  of  our  history  three- 
quarters  of  the  people  owned  their  homes  and  one-quarter 
were  tenants. 

At  the  end  of  the  war  five-eighths  owned  their  homes 
and  three-eighths  were  tenants. 

In  1885  three-eighths  owned  their  homes  and  five- 
eighths  were  tenants. 

ANOTHER  QUESTION. 

Col.  Harper,  what  relation  does  money  bear  to  com- 
merce? What  is  commerce?  Please  give  us  what  you 
said  at  Newcastle,  Pa. — 7.  W. 

COMMERCE ITS    RELATION    TO    MONEY    AND   TRANSPORTA- 
TION. 

My  object  is  to  illustrate  underlying  principles,  by  tak- 
ing "Commerce"  as  a  text.  *  *  * 

If  you  will  pass  along  the  highways  and  byways  of 
trade  and  listen  to  all  that  is  said  of  the  importance  of 
extending  our  commerce,  you  will  be  led  to  think  that 
"Commerce"  is  to  the  physical  creation  what  Wall  street 
is  to  Congress — its  soul. 

Indeed,  the  world  at  large,  without  "Commerce,"  would 
be  like  a  political  canvass  without  whiskey — dead. 

To  hear  the  "long  headed"  fellows  talk  of  the  "desira- 
bleness" of  extending  our  "Commercial  relations,"  you 
would  think  "Commerce" 

"Was  the  sum  of  all  good." 

"The  end  of  all  desire." 

Ah!  me,  there  are  statesmen,  not  only  "long  headed," 
but  "thick  headed,"  too. 


Life  of  Col.-  Jesse  Harper.  153 

They  affirm : 

"The  necessity  of  extending  our  Commerce  has  be- 
come supreme." 

They  are  wise  men  after  the  pattern  of  Simon  Sieggs. 

Our  whole  foreign  trade  is  two  per  cent  as  compared 
with  our  domestic,  which  is  ninety-eight  per  cent. 

And  yet  there  are  men  (save  the  mark)  who  are  dying 
because  our  government  will  not  give  its  whole  energies 
to  furnishing  a  money  for  the  two  per  cent  and  let  the 
ninety-eight  per  cent  perish  for  want  of  sufficient  money 
to  do  the  vast  business  transacted  at  home. 

These  "rampant  roarers"  are  shedding  barrels  of  tears 
over  the  two  per  cent  but  not  a  tear  for  the  ninety-eight. 

O  !  wisdom,  be  silent. 

O !  reason,  be  dumb. 

Now  for  a  little  sense. 

Ask  one  of  these  fellows — 

"What  is  Commerce?" 

"What  is  that  thing  that  you  say  must  be  extended — 
extended  to  foreign  countries?" 

"Let  us  know  exactly  what  you  want  extended." 

And  they  are  as  ignorant  on  the  subject  of  Commerce 
as  a  legislator  is  on  the  question  of  justice. 

If  you  urge  them  to  give  you  a  definition  of  "Com- 
merce" they  are  as  wholly  disqualified  for  the  task  as  is 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  tell  the  truth  on  the 
Silver  question. 

Their  verbosity  of  speech  is  only  equalled  by  their  in- 
anity of  sense.  Our  foreign  Commerce  should  be  at- 
tended to  as  a  wise  policy. 

But  our  home  trade  must  be  nurtured  and  cared  for, 
with  our  whole  strength,  in  order  to  the  highest  happi- 
ness of  the  people. 

To  neglect  our  home  Commerce  is  to  court  the  death  of 
the  Republic.  *  *  * 

What  is  Commerce? 

Those  who  talk  learnedly  about  "extending"  it  fail  to 
give  a  definition  of  it. 

Those  who  say  the  extension  of  our  Commerce  is  a 
"necessity"  are  wholly  lacking,  in  clear  definition,  as  to 
what  tliev  want. 


154  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

"Commerce"  with  them  is  a  general  term  and  they 
cannot  intelligently  explain,  even  to  a  boy,  what  they 
are  talking  about. 

So  all  the  way  from  Legislative  Halls,  down  to  the 
hustings,  there  is  much  noise,  little  sense  and  less  truth 
on  this  question. 

We  ask  for  definitions. 

Let  us  hear  from  the  people. 

We  give  ours  and  from  it  argue. 

"Commerce" — the  traffic  in  and  carrying  from  one 
place  to  another  the  products  of  human  labor  and  human 
genius — derived  from  nature. 

He  who  loads  his  wagon  at  his  barn  with  wheat,  and 
draws  it  to  the  warehouse,  is  a  part  of  Commerce. 

For  he  is  carrying  from  one  place  to  another  the  prod- 
uct of  labor. 

To  create  "Commerce" — foreign  and  domestic — two 
things  are  essential. 

1.  Change  of  title  to  the  product. 

2.  Change  of  place  of  the  product. 

To  extend  "Commerce"  two  things  are  necessary: 

1.  To  increase  the  change  of  title. 

2.  To  increase  the  change  of  place. 

To  do  this,  two  other  things  are  needed : 

1.  Some  "medium"  by  which  title  in  products  can  be 
changed. 

2.  Some  "medium"  by  which  the  product  itself  can  be 
moved. 

"Traffic"  is  merely  changing  title. 

The  merchant  selling  goods  is  but  changing  title — and 
the  more  title  he  can  put  out  of  himself  into  his  customer 
the  better  the  day's  business. 

There  are  two  ways  of  changing  title. 

1.  By  barter. 

2.  By  money. 

Credit  is  but  elongated  change  of  title,  on  usance  to  be 
closed  by  barter  or  money,  in  the  future. 

These  positions  being  true — it  follows : 

i.  That  there  must  be  a  sufficiency  of  the  "medium" 
to  healthfully  exchange  all  the  titles  that  need  to  be 
changed. 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  155 

2.  That  there  must  be  a  sufficiency  of  the  "medium," 
to  healthfully  move  to  the  places  required,  all  products 
that  need  moving. 

The  sequence  to  this  is: 

In  the  rightful  exchange  of  title  and  carrying  from 
place  to  place  the  products  of  labor,  to  the  extent  required 
by  the  diversified  wants  of  mankind,  are  the  material  in- 
terests of  the  race,  most  fully  assured. 

While  to  disturb  these  great  equities  of  life  is  to  be- 
come a  murderer. 

Before  we  illustrate  these,  let  us  state  some  maxims. 

1.  Man's  highest  duty — religious  and  secular — is: 
To  make  of  himself  the  best  intellectual,  moral  and 

physical  being  possible. 

2.  To  do  this  he  must  be  fed,  clothed  and  sheltered. 
Hence,  that  he  may  accomplish  these  high  duties  which 

he  owes  to  the  church  (the  religious  force)  and  to  the 
state  (the  government  force),  he  must  have  free  access 
to  nature. 

There  must  be,  therefore,  the  change  of  title  of  products 
and  the  change  of  place  of  products. 

And  it  follows  that  in  exact  proportion  to  the  change 
of  title  in  products  and  the  change  of  place  of  products, 
is  the  happiness  of  man  advanced  or  retarded. 

Neither  the  form  of  government,  the  age  of  the  world, 
nor  the  religious  belief  in  the  least  degree  affect  these  cen- 
ter truths  in  the  life  of  man. 

*  ****** 

Labor  was  the  first,  the  great  gift  to  man. 

Capital  is  the  fruit. 

Bearing  these  elementary  principles  in  mind,   let  us 

amplify : 

*  ****** 

Let  us,  for  the  "medium"  by  which  title  is  changed, 
substitute  "dollar." 

And  let  us,  for  the  "medium"  by  which  the  product  is 
moved,  substitute  "car." 

Then  let  us  suppose  that  a  munificent  father,  through 
his  bounteous  ways,  has  filled  the  world,  in  response  to  the 
toil  of  man,  with  all  that  is  needed  to  feed,  clothe  and  shel- 
ter. 


156  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

And  on  a  certain  day  it  is  found  that  there  are  "dollars" 
enough  to  change  the  title  to  products  as  fast  as  the  de- 
mands of  food,  clothing  and  shelter  require. 

And  on  the  same  day  it  is  found  that  there  are  enough 
"cars"  to  move  from  place  to  place  products  as  fast  as  the 
demands  of  food,  clothing  and  shelter  require. 

Then  human  interests,  material,  are  at  their  best. 

The  highest  mortal  state  is  attained. 

The  march  then  is  toward  intellectual,  moral  and  physi- 
cal perfected  manhood. 

At  this  point,  when  all  of  material  happiness  seems  to 
blend  with  an  infinite  plan, 

Suppose  the  government,  no  matter  what  its  form, 
should  reach  forth  with  sovereign  grasp — 

And  take  half  the  "cars,"  lock  them  up  or  destroy  them. 

Infinite  wisdom  could  alone  tell  the  horrors  that  would 
follow. 

Products  would  gorge  in  one  place,  in  another  place, 
emptiness. 

One  place  would  have  surfeit  of  food,  in  another  star- 
vation. 

Earth,  the  day  before  fair  as  Eden,  now  turned  into  a 
lazarretto  of  death. 

God's  bounties  destroyed  and  his  blessings  turned  to 
a  curse. 

And  all  from  the  simple  fact  of  stopping  one-half  of  the 
"cars." 

"Commerce"  would  be  ruined,  its  necessary  elements 
annihilated. 

What  would  the  just  man  say,  what  would  he  think  of 
a  government  like  that,  a  government  transformed  into  an 
enemy  of  both  God  and  man  ? 

But  suppose  the  "cars"  are  all  left  and  the  govern- 
ment— 

Takes  one-half  of  the  "dollars"  out  of  circulation,  locks 
them  up  or  destroys  them. 

And,  when  remonstrated  with,  instead  of  changing  its 
course,  keeps  on  till  all  the  "dollars,"  save  one  quarter  or 
less,  is  locked  up. 

And  then  boast  that  there  was  just  as  many  dollars  as 
there  ever  was. 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  157 

Such  a  government  would  be  a  tyranny  unequalled  in 
the  world's  history. 

The  men  who  brought  such  a  condition  should  be  to- 
tally destroyed  and  their  names  head  the  list  of  infamy  in 
all  after  ages. 

Mortal  man  could  not  tell  in  all  its  fullness  the  suffer- 
ing that  would  fill  the  world. 

Starvation  and  death,  in  a  march  through  the  fields  of 
desolation,  would  make  a  picture  that  would  cause  heaven 
to  be  draped. 

Business  failures  would  multiply. 

Penitentiary  officers  would  increase. 

Murder  would  reign. 

Lunacy  grow  till  hope  would  die. 

Suicide  would  fatten  as  it  roamed  the  fields  of  despair, 

Divorce,  with  the  vengeance  of  a  devil,  would  threaten 
with  utter  extinction  the  marriage  relation — the  holiest  re- 
lation of  all. 

And  then  the  rulers,  no  matter  of  what  name,  would 
be  stricken  to  death  by  the  hand  of  assassination. 

These  signs  of  a  dying  civilization  are  lighting  up  the 
world  to-day. 

Take  warning ! 

The  locking  up  or  destroying  of  the  "dollar"  would 
be — is — infinitely  worse  than  destroying  the  "cars." 

For  the  "Credits"  (debts)  could  never  be  discharged 
and  the  "usance"  (interest)  on  them  could  never  be  paid. 

So  man,  bearing  a  burden,  so  heavy  as  to  make  life  a 
curse — dies  in  despair.  *  *  * 

The  direct  effect  of  locking  up  the  "dollars"  is  to  drive 
us  down  to  barter. 

The  direct  effect  of  locking  up  the  "dollar"  is  to  anni- 
hilate Commerce. 

The  direct  effect  of  locking  up  the  "dollar"  is  to  destroy 
civilization. 

"Commerce"  destroyed,  man  reduced  to  a  nomad. 

The  exchange  of  title  of  the  infinite  variety  of  products 
— stops. 

The  carrying  from  place  to  place  of  this  infinite  variety 
— stops. 

"Old  chaos  reigns — " 


158  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

"The  damned,  in  ceaseless  jargon — " 

"Ring  out  hell's  jubilee." 

The  world — our  Republic — 

Is  struggling  in  the  midst  of  this  sea  of  ruin  to-day. 

As  the  "dollars"  grow  less  "Commerce"  becomes  a 
curse. 

For  the  other  factor,  "cars,"  double  up  their  demands — 

So  that  the  carrying  of  products  from  one  place  to  an- 
other becomes  a  monopoly — 

"Infinite  in  grasp,  deathless  in  purpose." 

And  as  "dollars"  lessen  in  number,  monopoly  grows, 
until  the  nation  hangs  in  even  balance  between  life  and 
death. 

The  value  of  "dollars"  consists  in  putting  them  away 
from  you,  for  something  that  will  feed,  clothe  and  shelter 
the  body. 

So  to  hoard  "dollars"  is  a  crime ! 

The  "dollar"  is  the  "medium"  to  change  title. 

So  to  hoard  "dollars"  is  a  crime! 

The  "car"  is  the  "medium"  to  change  the  place  of  prod- 
ucts. 

So  to  stop  them  is  a  crime. 

And  to  make  them  a  monopoly  is  a  crime. 

The  "dollar"  (the  medium  of  exchange)  knows  no 
state,  no  nation — the  world  is  its  field. 

The  "car"  (all  appliances  for  carrying)  knows  no  state, 
no  nation — the  world  is  its  field ! 

"Capital,"  inspired  by  greed,  has  control  of  both. 

Wherever  upon  earth  God  has  spread  his  bounties  and 
laid  up  in  store  that  which  will  feed,  clothe  and  shelter, 
when  utilized  by  labor — there  "capital,"  with  the  "dollar" 
in  one  hand  and  the  "car"  in  the  other,  rears  its  taber- 
nacle— 

And  begins  the  robbery  of  God  and  man. 

It  does  it  by  monopolizing  the  "medium"  that  changes 
title  to  products ; 

And  by  monopolizing  the  "medium"  that  changes  the 
place  of  products. 

"Capital"  has  spread  its  checker-board — it  is  the  world. 

The  stake  played  for — 

Possession  of  the  earth. 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  159 

And  when  the  game  is  counted,  the  result  declared,  it 
will  be — 

Satraps  on  one  side. 

Helots  on  the  other. 

The  gold  standard  means  this. 

The  fight  against  silver  means  this. 

The  fight  against  greenbacks  means  this. 

The  substitution  of  full  legal  tender  paper  money  in 
volume  sufficient  for  all  purposes — is  the  remedy  so  far  as 
the  money  question  is  concerned. 


"THE  ENEMIES  OF  THE  REPUBLIC." 

"Let  the  advocates  of  gold  and  the  advocates  of  silver 
compromise  their  differences  by  retiring  the  United  States 
notes  (greenbacks)  with  the  understanding  that  no  more 
legal  tenders  shall  be  issued.  This  would  leave  the  whole 
field  open  to  national  bank  issues,  to  be  redeemed  in  coin. 

"Any  arrangement  that  will  result  in  the  canceling  of 
the  legal  tenders,  followed  by  an  act  of  congress  declar- 
ing that  no  more  shall  be  issued,  will  be  accepted  by  the 
supporters  of  a  coin  basis  as  a  sound  settlement  of  the 
financial  problem. 

"We  hope  this  suggestion  may  be  acted  on,  for  it 
reaches  the  bottom  of  the  difficulty.  Bank  issue  convert- 
ible into  coin — well  secured  by  public  pledge — and  the  ir- 
redeemable United  States  notes  out  of  the  way — this  is 
the  need  of  the  hour." — London  Letter. 

Thus  the  syndicate  talks. 

Thus  the  great  money  power  of  Europe  talks  to  its 
allies  of  the  republic. 

This  is  not  new. 

The  Hazzard  Circular  of  1862  said  greenbacks  are 
"temporary." 

That  circular  said  national  bank  paper  must  be  "per- 
manent." 

Government  legal  tender  paper  money; 

Or,  bank  paper  credit. 

This  is  the  struggle. 


160  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

The  policy  of  the  leaders  of  both  the  old  parties,  for 
more  than  twenty  years,  has  been  for  the  bank  issue. 

They  have  covered  their  designs  by  trick  and  false- 
hood, so  that  the  people  are  blind. 

The  man — we  do  not  care  which  side  of  the  coin  ques- 
tion he  is  on,  the  gold  or  the  silver — 

If  he  is  for  the  national  banks,  he  is  advocating  the 
most  infamous  money  system  recorded  in  the  history  of 
the  human  race. 

The  national  banking  system  is  a  more  deadly  enemy 
to  liberty  than  was  chattel  slavery. 

It  will  rob  labor  more  ruthlessly ; 

It  will  endanger  our  institutions  more  fatally; 

It  will  corrupt  Christianity  more  ruinously. 

Be  warned. 

Look  out  for  betrayal. 

Wake  up. 

The  world  is  drifting  on  a  lee  shore. 

The  deluge  is  not  far  ahead. 

The  republic  for  its  life  must  fight  the  money  power 
of  the  world. 

Strike  at  the  heart  of  the  monster  that  threatens  the 
destruction  of  Christian  Civilization — 

A  false  money  system. 

It  is  a  system  that  oppresses  labor. 

It  is  a  system  that  destroys  liberty. 

It  is  a  system  that  dishonors  God. 

The  secret  enemies  of  the  republic — 

The  money  deposits  of  the  world — 

Are  planning  in  secret  conclave 

To  enslave  the  race. 

Let  congress  wake  up  from  its  Rip  Van  Winkle  sleep 
of  twenty  years. 

Let  our  law  makers  grasp  the  fact : 

That  the  national  banks  are  the  enemy  that  must  be 
overthrown. 

Let  each  man  be  for  them  or  against  them.  Show  your 
colors. 

If  for  them,  then  he  is  against  the  people. 

If  against  them,  then  on  that  issue,  he  is  for  the  people. 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  161 

They  are  deadly  enemies  of  free  institutions.  Both  can- 
not live  under  the  same  flag.  Which  shall  die? 

"THE  GOLDEN  UNIT/'  THE  DESPOT'S  SONG. 

The  march  to  peace  is  over  the  broken  altars  of  wrong. 

The  bridge  of  sighs  leads  to  the  sea  of  tears. 

The  greed  of  capital  is  the  prelude  to  despair. 

The  omniarch  of  the  world  ought  to  speak  again : 

"Awake  thou  that  sleepest  and  arise  from  the  dead." 

Gangrene  is  the  vestibule  to  the  charnel  house  of  death. 

The  world  drifts ; 

Riches  defy  God. 

The  poor  die, 

Heaven  stands  appalled, 

Hell  holds  jubilee 

And  the  golden  god  in  silken  sheen, 

The  state  in  night-mare  holds, 

While  storms  as  fierce  as  furies  march, 

Wrap  worlds  in  fiery  folds. 

Policy  prates  of  "material  wealth," 

And  despots  shout  their  song — 

"That  capital  is  a  thing  of  right." 

"Labor  a  thing  of  wrong." 

The  political  march  for  twenty  years  on  the  money 
question 

Has  been  a  lie. 

It  is  no  better  now. 

Listen : 

We  are  told  by  the  capitalist  that  the  river  to  the  fair 
land  of  business  felicity  is  to  be  crossed  on  a  golden 
bridge. 

And  this  anthem  is  struck  upon  every  string  of  the 
siren  harp  of  tyrants. 

It  is  false  clamor,  incongruous  as  the  nightingales 
which  the  soul  of  Sophocles  heard  singing  in  the  grove  of 
the  Furies. 

It  is  the  presage  of  darkness  that  threatens  the  uplift- 
ing of  the  shadow  of  death. 

It  is  the  chorus  of  fiends  echoing  from  the  vaults  of 
Pluto. 


1 62  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

Such  a  pean  amid  the  "dying  of  want,"  sang  by  the 
soulless,  seems  like  the  fresco  of  hope  on  the  walls  of 
hell  to  heighten  the  horrors  of  the  damned. 

With  a  million  out  of  employment,  at  a  loss  of  a  million 
a  day  in  unearned  wealth,  the  song  is  a  jargon  of  woe. 

With  another  half  million  loss,  on  half  rations,  "be- 
cause too  poor  to  eat,"  the  woe  becomes  double. 

With  sorrows  that  follow  what  tongue  can  tell. 

Hopeless  men, 

Heart-broken  women, 

Dying  children. 

These  fill  earth  with  the  evangels  of  despair. 

Business  depressions  as  wide  as  the  world,  range  lower 
than  they  have  been  in  a  hundrd  years, 

And  money  almighty! 

What  shall  be  the  end  ? 

What  shall  the  song  declare? 

What  shall  the  harvest  be? 

The  president  strikes  hope  in  the  face. 

Congress  sleeps,  wrangles  and  votes — 

For  the  gold  unit! 

The  judiciary  dreams. 

And  God  denounces  this  modern  money  because  it 
comes  not  up  to  the  help  of  the  people  against  the  mighty 
— god  of  gold. 

The  railroads  have  become  a  tyranny. 

The  telegraphs  have  become  a  tyranny. 

Land  jobbery  has  become  a  tyranny. 

Debt  has  become  a  tyranny. 

Money  has  become  a  tyranny. 

Banks  of  issue  crown  the  arch  and  become  the  sixth  fac- 
tor in  the  triumphal  march  to  ruin. 

Are  there  no  dangers? 

Fools  say  "no." 

Are  there  no  wrongs,  deep-seated  as  sin,  wide-spread 
as  the  world? 

Knaves  say  "no." 

Look  and  see. 

The  increase  of  crime  is  a  result  of  a  cause. 

The  increase  of  murder  is  a  result  of  a  cause. 

The  increase  of  lunacy  is  a  result  of  a  cause. 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  163 

The  increase  of  suicide  is  a  result  of  a  cause. 

The  increase  of  divorce  is  a  result  of  a  cause. 

The  assassination  of  our  presidents  is  a  result. 

Remove  the  cause. 

The  combined  powers  of  the  world  cannot  destroy  a 
cause  by  fighting  a  result. 

Repressive  forces,  striking  at  results,  cannot  remove 
the  cause  lying  back  of  it. 

The  great  depression  in  business  is  a  result. 

The  universal  unrest  is  a  result. 

The  "strike"  is  a  result. 

Dynamite  is  a  result. 

Labor  trouble  is  a  result. 

Growing  out  of  the  oppression  of  labor. 

Capital  in  the  hands  of  fallen  man 

Is  a  tyrant. 

A  few  years  ago  it  said — 

"Capital  shall  own  labor." 

Now  it  says — 

"Capital  shall  control  labor." 

The  first  was  chattel  slavery. 

The  second  is  serfdom — 

A  greater  enemy  to  labor  than  the  first. 

"It  is  labor  that  needs  protection,  not  capital." — Lin- 
coln. 

MONEY  CANNOT  BE  REDEEMED  IN  MONEY. 

To  Affirm   Such  a   System  Is  to  Affirm  a   System  of 
Robbery. 

Money  is  not  to  be  redeemed  in  money,  but  in  commo- 
dities and  labor,  and  this  redemption — the  very  life  of 
money — is  to  go  on  as  long  as  there  are  commodities  to 
sell  or  labor  to  be  employed. 

The  Greenback  party  believes  that  the  exchange  ofi 
property  and  labor  should  be  for  equivalents. 

The  old  parties  believe  that  property  and  labor  should 
be  exchanged  by  operation  of  law  and  not  on  equiva- 
lents. 

The  Greenback  party  says  money  must  be  redeemed. 


164  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

The  Democrats  and  Republicans  say  it  need  not  be  re- 
deemed. 

The  Greenback  party  is  the  advocate  of  redeemable 
money. 

The  old  hardware  parties  are  for  irredeemable  money. 

When  a  greenback  dollar  is  taken  to  the  treasury  and 
a  gold  dollar  given  for  it  the  greenback  dollar  has  not 
been  redeemed,  but  has  been  exchanged  for  another  kind 
of  dollar.  And  the  gold  dollar  must  be  redeemed,  or  it  is 
irredeemable  money.  All  money,  whether  metal  or  pa- 
per, must  be  redeemed  in  commodities  and  services. 

What  sense  is  there  in  working  yourself  into  a  fury  to 
get  your  greenback  dollar  exchanged  for  a  gold  dollar 
when,  unless  your  gold  dollar  is  redeemed,  it  is  of  no 
value?  Listen  to  what  some  of  the  most  distinguished 
writers  on  the  subject  say : 

"The  redemption  of  money  in  commodities  and 
services  through  the  clearing  houses  of  the  indus- 
try of  the  world,  from  which  every  one  withdraws 
precisely  the  things  he  desires  in  exchange  for  the  money 
he  holds,  is  the  beau  ideal  money,  under  the  present  sys- 
tem of  the  infinite  division  of  labor." — Moran  on  Money, 
in. 

There  it  is  in  a  nut  shell.  There  is  the  real  plan  for 
the  redemption  of  money. 

When  a  person  gets  money  for  goods  or  work  he  has 
not  got  pay  for  the  goods  or  labor,  but  an  order  for  the 
pay. 

Money  of  all  kinds,  whether  metal  or  paper,  is  merely 
an  order  for  commodities  and  services. 

Read  this  from  a  work  known  in  both  Europe  and 
America : 

"When  a  laborer  has  received  his  wages  in  money  he 
has  not  received  an  equivalent  for  his  services,  but  only 
something  which  will  enable  him  to  get  what  he  chooses. 
The  money,  therefore,  that  he  possesses  is  not  the  equiva- 
lent, but  it  is  the  symbol,  the  proof,  that  he  has  rendered 
services  or  property,  for  which  he  has  not  received  an 
equivalent." — Macleod  on  Banking,  1 124. 

That  is  the  system  of  the  Greenback  party.  They  spurn 
the  devilish  system  of  paper  money,  to  be  redeemed  in  coin 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  165 

— but  say  all  money  must  be  redeemed  in  commodities 
and  services. 

GUILTY. 

At  the  Michigan  camp  meeting  General  West  ar- 
raigned the  two  old  parties  before  his  vast  audience  as 
jurors,  allowing  the  defendants  to  testify  against  each 
other. 

He  first  arraigned  the  Republican  party  and  called  on 
the  Democratic  National  convention  to  make  the  charge, 
which  they  did  through  their  national  platform,  as  fol- 
lows: 

"What  say  you  Democratic  witnesses?" 

"7.  We  execrate  the  course  of  this  administration 
in  making  places  in  the  civil  service  a  reward  for  political 
crime,  and  demand  a  reform  by  statute  which  shall  make 
it  forever  impossible  for  a  defeated  candidate  to  bribe  his 
way  to  the  seat  of  a  usurper  by  billeting  villains  upon 
the  people. 

"8.  The  great  fraud  of  1876-77,  by  which,  upon  a 
false  count  of  the  electoral  votes  of  two  states,  the  can- 
didate defeated  at  the  polls  was  declared  to  be  president, 
and  for  the  first  time  in  American  history  the  will  of  the 
people  was  set  aside  under  a  threat  of  military  violence, 
struck  a  deadly  blow  at  our  system  of  representative  gov- 
ernment." 

Here  is  the  testimony  of  4,443,950  witnesses,  not 
Greenbackers,  but  Democrats,  given  at  the  ballot  box 
last  November: 

"What  say  the  jury — guilty  or  not  guilty?" 

"GUILTY  \" 

The  Democratic  party  was  arraigned,  when  the  follow- 
ing charge  made  by  the  last  Republican  National  con- 
vention and  sustained  by  the  votes  of  4,444,950  witnesses 
at  the  polls  in  November  last,  was  preferred: 

"We  charge  upon  the  Democratic  party  the  habitual 
sacrifice  of  patriotism  and  justice  to  a  supreme  and  in- 
satiable lust  of  office  and  patronage.  That  to  obtain  pos- 
session of  the  national  and  state  governments  and  the 
control  of  place  and  position,  they  have  obstructed  all 


1 66  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

efforts  to  promote  the  purity  and  conserve  the  freedom 
of  suffrage;  have  devised  fraudulent  certifications  and 
returns ;  have  labored  to  unseat  lawfully  elected  members 
of  congress ;  to  secure  at  all  hazards  the  vote  of  a  major- 
ity of  the  states  in  the  House  of  Representatives ;  have 
endeavored  to  occupy  by  force  and  fraud  the  places  of 
trust  given  to  others  by  the  people  of  Maine,  and  rescued 
by  the  courage  in  action  of  Maine's  patriotic  sons ;  have, 
by  methods  vicious  in  principle  and  tyrannical  in  prac- 
tice, attempted  partisan  legislation  to  appropriate  bills, 
upon  whose  passage  the  very  movements  of  the  govern- 
ment depends ;  have  crushed  the  rights  of  the  individual ; 
have  advocated  the  principle  and  sought  the  favor  of  re- 
bellion against  the  Nation,  and  have  sought  to  obliterate 
the  sacred  memories  of  the  war,  and  to  overcome  its  in- 
estimably good  results — freedom  and  individual  equal- 
ity." 

To  the  charge,  in  view  of  the  overwhelming  testimony 
in  support  of  it,  what  say  the  jury — guilty  or  not  guilty? 

"GUILTY." 

In  view  of  the  overwhelming  proof  of  guilt  against 
each  of  the  defendants,  what  is  the  duty  of  the  American 
people?  Shall  these  parties,  convicted  of  corruption, 
longer  receive  the  support  of  freemen,  or  shall  they  be 
consigned  to  that  oblivion  that  awaits  those  in  high  places 
who  trample  justice  under  foot,  and  disregard  those  in- 
terests they  were  commissioned  to  protect? — Harper  in 
People's  Advocate. 


CANDIDATE  FOR  CONGRESSMAN. 

LETTER  OF  ACCEPTANCE. 

DANVILLE,  ILL.,  Aug.  n,  1890. 
HON.  S.  D.  NOE. 

My  Dear  Sir : — Have  just  received  your  letter,  as  secre- 
tary, officially  notifying  me  that  the  Industrial  Conven- 
tion that  met  in  this  city  on  the  6th  of  August,  nominated 
me  for  Congress  from  the  I5th  District  of  Illinois;  also 
enclosing  a  platform  adopted  by  the  convention. 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  167 

The  action  of  that  convention,  thus  placing  me  before 
the  people,  was  a  surprise. 

Not  having  thought  of  the  matter,  and  having  a  work 
before  me  that  required  all  my  time,  it  seemed  out  of  the 
question  to  give  any  attention  to  it. 

The  platform  is  a  plain,  concise  statement  of  the  prin- 
ciple for  which  I  have  contended  for  years,  and  which  I 
shall  continue  to  do.  I  am  in  full  accord  with  it,  and  be- 
lieve if  the  suggestions  set  forth  were  carried  into  opera- 
tion, that  the  country  would  be  elevated  and  strengthened 
and  the  people  made  more  happy  and  prosperous. 

I  reproduce  the  platform  you  sent  me  as  a  part  of  this 
letter. 

INDUSTRIAL   PLATFORM. 

1.  We,  the  people  in  convention  assembled  represent- 
ing the  industrial  classes,  feel  the  depression  of  the  times 
and  believe  it  is  the  result  of  unjust  and  unwise  legisla- 
tion, not  only  national  and  state,  but  local. 

2.  We  demand  the  passage  of  a  service  pension  bill 
to  every  honorably  discharged  Union  soldier  and  sailor 
of  the  United  States. 

3.  We  are  unalterably  opposed  to  the  making  and 
vending  of  spiritous  and  malt  liquors  as  beverages,  and 
demand  the  legislature  to  submit  to  a  vote  of  the  people  a 
constitutional  amendment  on  the  liquor  traffic. 

4.  A  free  ballot  and  an  honest  count  being  essential 
to  fair  elections,  we  demand  a  system  of  voting  similar  to 
the  Australian  system. 

5.  We  demand  a  constitutional  amendment  making 
the  president,  vice  president  and  U.  S.  senators  elective 
by  a  direct  vote  of  the  people. 

6.  We  demand  such  laws  as  will  effectually  prevent 
the  dealing  in  futures  of  all  agricultural  and  mechanical 
productions,  pursuing  a  stringent  system  of  procedure 
in  trials  as  shall  secure  the  prompt  conviction  and  im- 
posing such  penalties  as  shall  secure  the  most  perfect 
compliance  of  law. 

7.  That  the  means  of  transportation  and  communica- 
tion be  controlled  by  the  people  as  is  the  postal  system. 


1 68  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

8.  Land  grants  to  corporations,  forfeited  by  reason  of 
non-fulfillment  of  contracts,  should  be  immediately  re- 
claimed by  the  government;  those  who  are  not  residents 
or  citizens  should  not  be  allowed  to  own  lands  in  the 
United .  States,  and  the  public  domain  should  be  reserved 
as  homes  for  actual  settlers. 

9.  The  establishment  of  a  monetary  system  in  the  in- 
terest of  the  masses,  instead  of  the  speculator  and  usurer, 
by  which  a  circulating  medium  of  full  legal  tender  shall 
be  issued  directly  to  the  people  without  the  intervention  of 
banks,  and  loaned  to  citizens  upon  ample  security  at  a  rate 
of  three  per  cent  interest ;  postal  savings  banks  should  be 
established.     Where  we  have  free  coinage  of  gold  we 
should  have   free  coinage  of   silver.     We   demand  the 
prompt  payment  of  the  national  debt. 

10:  A  graduated  income  tax  is  the  most  equitable 
system  of  taxation,  placing  the  burden  on  those  who  can 
best  afford  to  bear  it,  instead  of  laying  it  on  the  farmer 
and  producer  and  exempting  millionaires  and  bond  hold- 
ers. 

11.  We  demand  the  enactment  of  laws  for  the  sup- 
pression of  all  trusts  and  combinations  which  are  designed 
to  enrich  the  few  at  the  expense  of  the  many. 

12.  We  believe  that  the  best  interests  of  education 
demand  a  uniformity  of  text  books  in  public  schools  and 
demand  that  all  text  books  be  published  by  the  state  and 
sold  directly  to  school  boards. 

13.  Arbitration  should  settle  all  labor  disputes. 

14.  We  demand  the  weighing  of  all  coal  before  being 
screened.     Also   no  employes   shall   be   dispossessed   of 
premises  by  the  employers  until  after  the  settlement  of 
their  troubles  by  arbitration. 

15.  We  are  in  favor  of  tariff  reform  and  the  free  coin- 
age of  gold  and  silver.    We  will  not  support  any  candi- 
date for  congress  unless  he  declares  himself  in  favor  of 
the  principle  above. 

1 6.  Resolved,  That  we  believe  in  a  government  of  the 
people,  by  and  for  the  people,  based  upon  the  principles 
laid  down  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 

The  difficult  question  for  me,  that  the  action  of  the  men 
composing  that  convention  presents,  is,  can  I  best  sub- 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  169 

serve  the  principles  announced  in  the  platform  by  being 
a  candidate,  or  by  going  on  with  the  work  in  the  same 
way  I  have  for  years. 

My  confidence  and  respect  for  the  men  forming  that 
convention  is  strong  and  abiding.  I  thank  them  for  their 
confidence  in  me.  And  whatever  may  be  the  outcome, 
they  shall  never  be  betrayed  by  me. 

To  determine  my  duty,  for  myself,  is  a  grave  and  diffi- 
cult task.  And  but  for  the  urgent,  earnest  request  of 
these,  I  regard  true  men,  to  take  the  place,  I  should  de- 
cide at  once  to  go  on  as  I  have  been  going  for  years. 

I  have  been  educating  on  the  great  questions  that  are 
seeking  solution,  not  alone  in  this  country,  but  all  civiliza- 
tion as  well. 

That  this  age  is  facing  questions  such  as  man  never  met 
before,  is  so  patent  as  to  need  no  argument.  The  saying 
of  the  distinguished  senator  is  profoundly  true,  "that  the 
country  is  confronted  with  emergencies  greater,  in  my 
judgment,  that  it  has  ever  been  confronted  with  in  the 
past." 

No  consideration  of  private  gain  or  public  revenue  can 
justify  the  upholding  of  a  system  so  utterly  wrong  in 
principle,  suicidal  in  policy,  and  disastrous  in  results  as 
the  traffic  in  intoxicating  beverages. 

Wealth  to  the  purple  and  poverty  to  the  rags,  is  the 
frontal  piece  of  the  day.  The  palace  and  the  hovel  side 
by  side  is  the  advertisement  of  the  world's  shame. 

Persons  that  God  made  are  bound  hand  and  foot  to 
creatures  (corporations)  that  law  made.  This  is  the 
paradox  of  all  time. 

The  corporation,  combine,  trust,  each  and  all  must  die. 

If  all  power  is  inherent  in  the  people,  then  let  them  be- 
head this  three-headed  dog  whose  generic  name  is  the 
money  power. 

A  general  outline  of  duty  to  beget  hope,  may  not  be 
out  of  place.  Look  aloft  to  see  how  the  rigging  of  the 
ship  of  state  is  farcing. 

And  even  a  higher  look  than  that,  may  add  to  the  soul 
dignity,  so  much  needed  amid  the  world-wide  storm. 


170  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

"Is  there  never  a  chink  in  the  worlds  above, 
Where  they  listen  to  the  worlds  from  below." 

The  power  which  now  through  the  forms  of  law,  rule, 
must  be  utterly  overthrown — by  changing  the  law  by  the 
ballot. 

The  reserved  rights  of  the  people  embraced  in  the  Con- 
stitution must  be  restored  to  them. 

Every  franchise  of  the  public  trust,  granted  by  law, 
must  be  revoked  and  all  public  functions,  that  are  sover- 
eign, operated  by  the  government,  the  agent  of  the  peo- 
ple, in  the  interest  of  the  people,  at  cost  of  maintenance. 

The  government  must  be  brought  back  to  the  perform- 
ance of  justice  so  as  to  secure  public  tranquility. 

A  high  salaried  official  class  will  destroy  liberty  as  a 
high  salaried  minister  will  destroy  pure  religion. 

Pay  for  like  public  duties  in  the  same  ratio  as  paid  for 
like  services  in  private  life.  The  high  emoluments  now 
inhering  to  office  holding,  creates  a  mushroom  nobility. 
It  leads  to  buying  office  because  there  is  money  in  it.  It 
is  the  bastard  off-spring  of  effete  aristocracy. 

Strip  our  institutions  of  the  sickly  surrounding  of  no- 
bility. Make  the  buying  of  office  and  corrupting  the  bal- 
lot felony. 

In  the  spirit  of  the  words  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  make  it  a 
government  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  for  the  people. 

Have  a  correct  money  system.  This  present  national 
banking  system  is  the  corporation  of  all  corporations,  the 
combine  of  all  combines,  the  trust  of  all  trusts.  The  pres- 
ent mode  of  work  and  use  of  it  must  be  rooted  up,  anni- 
hilated. It  is  at  the  bottom  of  the  troubles  now  shaking 
Christendom. 

The  emission  of  money  is  a  sovereign  act  To  bestow 
this  power  on  individuals,  is  to  ultimately  ruin  and  destroy 
civilization. 

This  power  over  the  money  must  be  restored  to  the  peo- 
ple— it  must  not  be  delegated  to  any  class. 

Take  all  the  land  granted  back — it  should  never 
have  been  granted,  making  an  equitable  settlement  with 
those  who  obtained  it  under  the  form  of  law.  Then  hold 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  171 

it  for  homes  for  the  people — use  or  occupancy  being  nec- 
essary to  the  holding. 

Non-resident  aliens  not  to  have  title,  require  them  to 
sell  who  have  title,  which  they  ought  not.  Make  a  just 
settlement,  but  make  residence  here  absolutely  necessary 
before  an  alien  can  have  fee  in  land  and  must  then  occupy 
and  use. 

National  gifts  to  the  race,  stowed  in  the  earth,  bene- 
ficial to  man,  should  be  under  the  control  of  the  govern- 
ment, the  agent  of  the  people,  and  worked  for  the  equal 
benefit  of  all  the  people  alike — stripped  of  every  vestige 
of  monopoly. 

To  do  all  this  there  must  be  a  meeting  of  forces  who 
have  a  common  interest.  Burke  said :  "When  bad  men 
combine  the  good  must  associate,  else  they  fall  one  by 
one  an  unpitied  sacrifice  in  a  contemptible  struggle." 

Let  us  take  warning  by  that,   for  it  is  true. 
*  #  *  *  *  * 

Let  us  be  warned — 

The  turning  of  the  most  beneficial  of  modern  discover- 
ies to  the  injury  of  man,  has  become  a  danger  almost  in- 
finite. 

To  permit  wrongful  to  take  the  place  of  rightful  use, 
is  a  fearful  injustice.  It  is  national  suicide. 

This  is  true  of  every  invented  appliance  that  aids  in  the 
production  of  wealth.  The  fact  of  the  aid  is  so  patent 
that  many  believe  the  discovery  and  use  of  this  machin- 
ery to  be  an  injury  to  labor.  This  is  not  true.  The  diffi- 
culty is  not  in  the  machine,  but  in  the  misuse  of  the  result 
— the  product. 

Equitable  distribution  must  keep  pace  with  the  produc- 
tion. 

This  is  the  grandest  age  in  history  for  production,  and 
the  most  infamous  in  inequitable  distribution. 

The  number  who  produce  are  infinite;  those  who  dis- 
tribute by  an  unjust  mode  are  a  unit  in  comparison.  We 
are  at  a  line  that  must  be  crossed ;  on  the  other  side  is  a 
grander  civilization,  or  a  more  deadly  night  than  any  of 
the  past. 


172  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

Three  days  work  now  are  equal  in  production  to  thir- 
teen fifty  years  ago. 

Continue  this  force  of  production  and  continue  this 
mode  of  distribution  and  in  the  close  future  a  few  will 
own  the  world. 

Production  is  at  fever  heat,  distribution  that  is  equit- 
able is  at  a  collapse,  the  feet  of  the  patient  cold. 

To  save  such  a  body  radical  and  immediate  remedies 
must  be  applied. 

How  this  civilization,  presenting  the  widest  extremes 
ever  known,  is  to  be  brought  to  an  equipoise,  is  a  question 
now  pressing  the  brain  and  heart  of  the  world.  These 
abnormal  conditions  must  be  destroyed,  and  measures 
instituted  that  will  restore  to  the  normal. 

There  must  be  a  stop  put  to  the  work  of  capital  appro- 
priating to  itself  a  greater  per  cent  per  annum  than  the 
increase  of  wealth  per  annum. 

That  mode  of  distribution  is  more  dangerous  than  was 
slavery. 

We  stimulate  production  and  prevent,  by  a  wrong  fac- 
tor, equitable  distribution. 

Following  such  a  course  we  see  the  appalling  spectacle, 
to  a  thousand  millionaires  we  have  a  million  poor.  Tax- 
ation instead  of  being  on  wealth  and  the  surplus  of  wealth, 
is  on  the  wealth  we  are  attempting  to  acquire — out  of 
which  system  grows  the  modern  spoliation  of  debt — born 
in  England  and  by  her  cunning  become  the  child  of  the 
republic. 

Man  must  exist — hence  association.  The  government 
is  but  the  agent  of  the  people.  Society  in  its  full  sense 
is  the  human  race.  As  the  earth  is  diverse  so  is  man. 
Each  nation  is  bound  to  do  the  best  for  its  own  people 
that  it  can,  and  maintain  reciprocal  relations  with  other 
states. 

That  which  you  cannot  produce  at  all  get  of  those  who 
do,  on  terms  advantageous  as  possible  to  you. 

That  which  you  have  the  greatest  surplus  of,  get  off 
on  terms  of  like  character. 

Having  thus  reciprocated  in  the  two  extremes,  where 
you  had  nothing  and  where  you  had  all — the  inside  will 
adjust  to  these  outlines.  The  nations  over  against  you 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  173 

do  the  very  same,  and  thus  the  world  fraternizes.  These 
peaceful  regulations  go  on  till  arbitration  takes  the  place 
of  force  and  earth  becomes  the  empire  of  peace. 

Here  is  broad  ground  for  reciprocity,  and  to  which  the 
nations  are  looking  and  the  grandest  names  of  earth  are 
bending  their  energies — to  a  world  disarmed,  a  world 
of  peace. 

Arbitration  the  fixed  law  of  nations. 

My  Dear  Sir:  The  object  of  this  letter  is  to  help 
check  the  growth  of  greed  and  self.  To  help  institute 
equal  justice  to  all  and  special  privileges  to  none. 

The  policy  and  laws  of  Christendom  are  a  travesty  on 
honesty,  satire  on  religion.  Let  justice  reign,  let  truth 
triumph. 

The  world  thus  regulated,  society  thus  harmonized, 
would  at  last  blend  man  into  one  universal  brotherhood. 

Thanking  you  for  your  courtesy  and  the  convention 
for  their  confidence,  I  accept  the  nomination  offered  me 
by  the  people,  and  with  my  might  will  carry  the  standard 
to  the  polling  day,  and  then  let  freemen  decide  whom 
they  want  to  serve  them  in  the  halls  of  the  national  legis- 
lature. Let  the  ballot  decide  the  contest. 

Respectfully  yours,         J.  HARPER. 


A  MONEY  FAMINE. 

"Cursed  be  the  man  who  first  loved  gold." 
"Your  gold  and  your  silver  is  rusted  through." 
The  election  of  1894  has  been  called  a  cyclone — a  kind 
of  avalanchum  cataclyism.     The  Democratic  wail  in  re- 
gard to  the  result  is  "virtue  survives  the  grave,"  while 
the  jubilatum  of  the  Republican  is  "whole  in  itself  and 
whole  in  every  part.' 

Humanity  cries :  "And  they  have  cast  lots  for  my  peo- 
ple, and  have  given  a  boy  for  a  harlot  and  sold  a  girl  for 
wine,  that  they  might  drink."  Thus  spoke  the  Hebrew 
prophet  as  the  Jewish  state  met  its  death  at  the  hands  of 
hypocrites,  extortioners  and  usurers. 


174  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 


A  HOROSCOPY. 

"An  echo  of  the  past,"  "An  epic  of  the  future." 

1.  The  vote  of  the  whole  country  in  1894  will  not  be 
up  to  the  vote  of  1892  by  a  good  deal. 

2.  The  People's  party  will  increase  its  votes  as  a  na- 
tional growth,  about  eighty  per  cent.     No  other  party 
will  increase  their  vote. 

3.  The  Democratic  party  will  lose  a  million  votes  from 
their  '92  overflow  and  be  per  consequence  swept  out  of 
political  existence. 

4.  The  Republican  party,  by  the  force  of  pluralities, 
with  a  smaller  aggregate  vote  than  '92,  will  carry  the 
country  and  make  it  more  solidly  Republican  than  '92 
made  it  Democratic. 

We  are  now  waiting  to  see  how  these  statements  are 
borne  out  as  time  passes. 

This  "avalanche"  will  fix  the  issue  for  the  future,  to  be 
fought  out  between  the  People's  party  and  the  Republican 
party. 

The  election  of  1894  will  clear  the  fog  of  ism,  sham 
and  fraud,  showing  to  the  most  obtuse  that  the  mighty 
struggle  in  the  Republic  is  for — a  government  of  the  rich, 
with  law  power  to  rule,  the  poor  to  be  vassalized,  under 
false  clamor  and  denied  the  right  of  organization. 

The  ordeal  is  the  most  fearful  in  human  history. 

The  birth  agonies  of  the  -re-genesis  of  the  age  is  now 
felt  as  wide  as  the  earth. 

Every  spot  of  the  globe  is  in  commotion.  The  Mongo- 
lian hordes  are  being  moved  by  an  unseen  hand  and  the 
posthumous  child  of  the  new  age  is  clamoring  for  birth 
and  will  not  be  denied. 

Old  parties,  like  old  lives,  must  give  place  to  the  new. 

Parties  of  like  disease  die  a  like  death. 

The  Republican,  in  headship,  is  monarchial,  and  a  full 
per  cent  of  its  make-up  are  of  that  class  of  men  believing 
in  a  class  government. 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  175 

The  Democratic  party  is  anti-monarchial,  and  in  the 
make-up  a  large  per  cent  stand  for  a  mass  government. 

But  there  is  a  coherent  factor  in  the  Democratic  party, 
who  stand  with  the  men  who  are  the  head  ship  of  the  Re- 
publican party,  and  are  more  intense  haters  of  a  mass 
government,  and  more  devotedly  attached  to  a  class  rule 
than  the  Republicans. 

The  aggregation  into  one  body,  all  who  hold  that  man, 
as  such,  has  capability  for  self  rule,  are  now  trying  to 
mobilize  into  one  army.  The  People's  party  is  the  nu- 
cleus, while  all  who  are  in  sympathy  with  the  "Class  born 
to  rule,"  are  crystallizing  in  the  camp  of  the  classes. 

This  election  shows  that  the  Republican  party  is  to  be 
the  force  used  by  the  "Invisible  hand  of  plutes"  to  "Es- 
tablish the  monarchy." 

The  executive,  his  aiders  and  co-workers  are  in  the 
fight  against  the  republic. 

Calling  congress  together  to  strike  down  silver  was 
to  that  end. 

The  urging  to  keep  the  foul  cry  of  tariff  at  the  front 
was  to  that  end. 

The  fraud,  purchase  and  cumulated  crime,  incident  to 
the  late  legislation,  was  to  that  end. 

The  calling  out  of  the  federal  troops  to  sustain  corpor- 
ate law  breaking  was  to  that  end. 

The  unlawful  and  despotic  turning  the  army  loose  to 
oppress  and  crush  labor  was  to  that  end. 

The  calling  out,  by  the  executive  of  the  nation,  the  mil- 
itary in  time  of  peace,  was  the  first  step  in  establishing  a 
military  monarchy. 

It  was  inaugurated  by  the  Democratic  party,  and  with 
a  devotion  unparalleled,  endorsed  by  the  head-ship  of  the 
Republican  party. 

The  trend  is: 

"The  class  rule." 

"The  mass  serve." 

The  gold  standard  means  a  government  of  the  rich. 

A  convertible  money  system  means  a  government  of  the 
rich. 

A  bonded  debt  system  means  a  government  of  the  rich. 

A  silver  standard  means  a  government  of  the  rich. 


176  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

A  monometal  and  bimetal,  both  combined,  means  a  gov- 
ernment of  the  rich. 

As  sure  as  the  uprising,  which  has  never  had  a  parallel, 
is  now  upon  us,  so  sure  is  it  that  the  barbarism  of  metal 
money  must  die. 

As  long  as  they  live,  as  a  fraud  upon  a  purer  and  higher 
life — so  long  will  Shylock  live. 

As  long  as  he  lives  a  convertible  money  system  will 
live ;  a  bonded  debt  system  will  live ;  •  the  two  greatest 
enemies  on  earth  to-day  of  God  and  man.  The  twin 
devils  are — money  loaners  and  coupon  clippers. 

The  People's  party  believes  in  paper  money. 

A  life-time  fight  in  the  cause  of  humanity  leads  us  to 
speak  plainly  to  those  who  have  the  love  of  man  at  heart. 

We  have  warred  at  a  disadvantage  all  through  the 
struggle,  from  1876  down. 

I  said  many  times  in  the  hard  fight  of  1894,  what  I  had 
said  before.  I  did  it  that  others  might  see  what  I  called 
the  "Middle  of  the  road." 

We  are  carrying  lots  of  barbarism  along  with  us. 

Let  us  unload. 

"Your  gold  and  your  silver  is  rusted  and  will  be  a  wit- 
ness against  you  in  that  day." 

Let  us  leave  them  to  the  moles  and  the  bats. 

And  take  paper  upon  which  is  impressed  to-day,  and 
carrying  forward  to  the  future,  the  first  glints  of  the  noon- 
tide age. 

The  following  reprint  is  out  of  my  speech  in  support  of 
paper  money.  Many  who  have  heard  it  wish  for  it  in  the 
Commoner,  so  I  send  this  particular  part  as  a  review  of 
the  departures  I  think  that  have  been  made  from  the  cen- 
ter issue. 

"The  policy  of  the  great  banking  houses  of  Christen- 
dom, as  now  combined,  are  the  most  destructive  instru- 
ment of  human  happiness  ever  instituted  among  men." — 
Salinas. 

"Legal  persons  have  taken  possession  of  money,  the 
instrument  that  changes  the  title  to  property,  they  have 
taken  control  of  the  appliances  of  transportation,  which 
changes  the  place  of  property,  and  through  them  have 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  177 

added  the  infinite  burden  to  the  people  of  One  Hundred 
and  Fifty  Billion  Dollars."— Stoddard. 

Now  how  stand  individuals  and  parties,  as  to  these  aw- 
ful conditions? 

As  to  the  People's  party  and  its  members :  On  the  I7th 
of  May,  1876,  the  Independent  party  was  called  into  ex- 
istence by  the  necessities  of  the  people. 

It  published  a  platform  and  put  a  presidential  ticket  in 
the  field — Cooper  and  Booth.  It  demanded  the  issue  of 
"United  States  notes,"  full  legal  tender  for  all  purposes 
(except  on  contracts  for  coin)  ;  and  that  it  was  the  duty 
of  the  government  to  provide  such  a  circulating  medium 
for  the  people — and  that  bank  paper  must  be  suppressed. 

It  demanded  the  immediate  repeal  of  the  specie  re- 
sumption act. 

It  protested  against  the  sale  of  any  more  gold  bonds  to 
foreigners. 

It  protested  against  the  sale  of  bonds  to  buy  silver  to 
substitute  for  the  fractional  currency. 

The  main  point  made  against  the  party  was — it  as- 
sumed that  the  government  could  make  paper  money  by 
its  fiat. 

Hence  the  members  of  this  party  were  called  "fiatist," 
"crank,"  lunatic,"  etc. 

Further,  because  they  insisted  that  paper  could  be  used 
as  material,  they  were — "repudiators." 

The  whole  power  of  ridicule  was  let  loose  on  them  by 
the  worshipers  of  "coin." 

Asserting  that  the  "precious  metals,"  gold  and  silver, 
had  been  the  world's  standard  in  the  past. 

The  Independent  party  of  1876  was  a  paper  money 
party. 

The  "Metal  Money  Gang"  (Jerome)  decreed  its  de- 
struction at  its  birth. 

They  began  poisoning  the  public  mind. 

And  secretly  striking  at  our  free  institutions. 

Deception  had  been,  was  then,  and  is  now,  the  policy 
pursued. 

This  was  done  to  hide  the  conspiracy,  hatched  more 
than  a  quarter  of  a  century  before,  to — 

Ultimately  establish  a  gold  standard. 


178  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

"Coin"  was  the  word  used  to  belittle  the  Independents 
— who  were  paper  money  "fiatists." 
This  "Metal  Money  Gang"  saw  an  enemy  in  this  new 
"fiat  party"  that  was  dangerous  to  the  death  point. 

The  demand  for  the  issue  of  paper  money  was  a  mor- 
tal blow  at  the  metal  money  system. 

The  Independent  party  demanded  the  true  system. 

Both  gold  and  silver  must  pass  from  use  as  money 
material,  or  civilization  dies. 

THIS  IS  THE  FIGHT  NOW. 

As  the  Independents  adopted  the  "United  States  notes" 
as  money,  they  sealed  their  fate  in  the  eyes  of  the  "Metal 
Money  Gang." 

And  because  the  "back"  of  these  notes  were  "green" 
their  supporters  were  nicknamed  "Greenbackers,"  in  de- 
rision. 

The  golden  calf  worshipers  and  the  disciples  of  the 
Ephesian  goddess,  became  pious  over  much,  in  their 
devotion  to  "intrinsic  value." 

And  they  are  raving  about  it  to  this  day. 

To  the  discredit  of  their  intelligence  on  the  one  hand 
and  the  debauchery  of  their  morals  on  the  other. 

It  was  done  to  smirch  the  advocates  of  paper  money 
and  destroy  their  influence  with  their  fellow  men. 

It  was  done  to  aid  a  "money  conspiracy" — that  has 
bloomed  into  proportions  to  ruin  without  a  parallel  in  all 
the  past. 

The  advocates  of  a  higher  civilization  were  called 
"weak  minded,"  fit  only  for  the  "asylum." 

The  "metal  standard"  men,  whether  their  idol  stands 
on  two  legs  (silver  and  gold)  or  on  one  (gold) — fought 
the  paper  money  men  then  and  they  fight  them  now. 

In  spite  of  all  opposition,  the  new  party  made  a  fear- 
ful breach  in  that  infamous  thing — intrinsic  value. 
Polled  three  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  votes  in  1880. 
And  would  have  been  victorious  ere  this,  but  for  treach- 
ery and  money,  corruptly  used,  as  in  the  betrayal  of 
Christ,  by  Judas  and  the  priests. 

Then  these  tyrants  of  a  "gold  conspiracy"  said — "Divide 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  179 

and  conquer."  "Time  must  elapse  and  other  issues  to 
distract  the  people  be  raised."  This  was  flashed  from 
the  greatest  "wealth  center  of  earth,"  to  our  shores, 
"and  two  parties  have  rivalled  each  other  in  carrying  on 
this  decree  of  the  money  kings  of  Europe." — Snodgrass. 
The  education  by  the  new  party  was  on  the  central 
truth,  that  money  answereth  all  things — 

AND  THAT  MONEY  PAPER. 

The  death  of  such  a  party  was  decreed. 

"Let  division  and  confusion  come  to  destroy  this 
spawn." — Armstrong. 

The  anti-monopoly  party  was  gotten  up  to  divide  the 
forces. 

Those  who  were  not  paper  money  men  led  the  fight. 

The  money  power  managed  the  job  so  successfully 
that  it  deceived  the  elect. 

By  1884  two  parties  were  in  the  field — both  "anti." 

A  condidate  for  president  was  nominated  by  both — 
the  Greenbackers  and  the  Anti-Monopolists. 

And  the  people  were  "distracted,"  and  the  money 
power  laughed. 

The  greenback  was  the  true  successor. 

"It  was  still  a  paper  money  party — but  was  anxious  to 
"load  up  with  issues." — Munn. 

It  talks  of  one  of  the  legs  of  "silver"  of  the  Image 
set  up  by  the  "Metal  Money  Gang." 

Wanted  in  the  platform. 

The  virus  of  "other  issues"  began  to  work  in  the  party 
— of  one  idea  at  first. 

The  editor  of  the  Sentinel  opposed  a  motion  to  amend 
the  platform  of  1884  by  inserting  a  resolution  demand- 
ing the  remonetization  of  silver. 

He  said  we  were  not  "coin  champions,  but  a  paper 
money  party." 

And  he  was  right. 

We  know  that  it  is  the  volume  of  money  that  regulates 
prices — hence  the  crime  of  demonetizing  silver  to  lessen 
its  volume. 

It  was  a  measure  to  contract  the  volume. 


180  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

Gold  and  silver  both  gives  the  larger  volume. 

Therefore  both  should  be  used  to  the  fullest  extent — 
till  both  are  abandoned. 

For  they  are  wholly  insufficient  to  supply  the  amount 
of  money  needed  by  the  people  to  do  the  business  of 
the  country — where  our  per  capita  debt  is  $300.00. 

This  is  the  whole  of  it  in  a  nutshell. 

By  1888  the  "single  tax"  question,  as  a  measure  to 
"distract"  and  "divide"  was  thrust  upon  us. 

And  as  many  as  seven  industrial  organizations  were 
in  the  field. 

All  having  the  effect  to  "distract,"  "divide"  and  gain 
"time,"  which  was  the  prime  object  of  the  "Metal  Money 
Gang." 

In  the  meantime  the  two  dominant  parties  got  in  their 
work. 

Got  "time,"  "distracted"  and  "divided"  the  people. 

By  sham  "issues,"  "loud  talk"  and  a  "subsidized  press." 
— Seitz. 

We,  in  the  main,  stuck  to  paper  as  a  primate,  "but 
loaded  up  with  a  mighty  load  of  stuff." — Owens. 

Thus  we  reached  1892  and  both  old  parties  declared 
for  silver  by  "straddling." 

"As  soon  as  all  nations  agree  to  it,"  or  words  to  that 
effect. 

The  People's  party  stuck  to  paper,  "but  had  many 
strings  to  its  bow."  Silver  was  one  of  them. 

The  country  sectionalized.  The  west  and  south,  to  an 
extent,  voted  with  the  People's  party,  and  a  million  and 
a  quarter  of  votes  were  polled. 

But  to  claim  that  as  a  victory  for  paper  money  is  to  be 
foolhardy. 

Paper  money. 

That  is  the  soul  of  the  party. 

There  it  must  win  or  all  is  lost. 

Then,  where  are  we  at? 

"We  came,  we  saw" — we  did  not  conquer. 

The  game  of  "distracting,"  "dividing,"  has  worked 
like  a  charm. 

T.  We  have  those  who  believe  in  a  single  gold  stand- 
ard. 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  181 

2.  Those  who  believe  in  a  gold  and  silver  standard, 
combined. 

3.  Both  holding  in  their  platform  that  a  paper  money 
must  be  issued,  convertible  into  "coin"  at  the  option  of 
the  holder,  to  make  the  volume  "ample  to  do  the  busi- 
ness of  the  country."    That  is  95  per  cent  on  credit,  so 
as  to  leave  the  people  at  the  mercy  of  the  "Metal  Money 
Gang." 

A  gang  as  implacable  as  death,  and  as  destitute  of 
conscience  as  Sahara  is  of  water. 

The  People's  party  has  become  the  "Populists." 

And  in  favor  of  full  legal  tender  currency,  legal  tender 
for  all  purposes  and  enough  of  it  to  do  the  business  of  the 
country.  The  word  "currency"  includes  gold,  silver  and 
paper. 

The  Prohibitionists  make  the  liquor  traffic  the  primate, 
and  on  the  money  question  are  divided;  have  members 
on  both  sides  of  the  question.  It  is  not  a  paper  money 
party. 

Then  it  is  a  fact,  as  we  now  stand,  there  is  no  sole  pa- 
per money  party. 

And  yet  that  is  the  question  of  the  age. 

We  mean,  the  struggle  now  upon  us — upon  the  world 
— is 

1.  Metal  money,  or 

2.  Paper  money. 

Both  issued  by  sovereign  authority,  and  by  that  au- 
thority only. 


WM.   P.   ST.  JOHN,   BANKER,    1895. 

"Perfection  in  money,  thus  provided,  would  involve 
the  use  of  neither  gold  nor  silver,  nor  any  other  com- 
modity. 

"Now,  if  my  caution  against  it  will  be  quoted  along 
with  my  description  of  it,  I  will  describe  perfect  money, 
to  wit: 

"Any  convenient  substance  of  about  the  'intrinsic' 
properties  of  silk-ribbed  paper  prepared  to  defy  the  coun- 
terfeiter, issued  by  authority  of  the  law  of  the 


1 82  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

United  States,  and  promise  no  redemption  whatever,  ex- 
cept acceptance  for  all  dues  to  the  United  States,  and 
also  made  receivable  and  payable  for  all  dues  and  debts, 
public  and  private,  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United 
States." 

This  is  the  system  of  honest  people,  and  only  our  dis- 
honesty is  in  the  way  of  its  adoption,  says  the  distin- 
guished writer. 

THE  REMEDY. 

The  following  I  published  as  my  own  views  ten  years 
ago  of  issuance  and  material: 

The  money  should  all  be  issued  by  the  government 
and  made  full  legal  tender  for  all  purposes.  It  should 
be  sufficient  in  volume  to  do  the  business  of  the  country 
without  the  intervention  of  credit,  on  cash,  strictly.  It 
should  be  stamped  on  material  of  the  least  possible  com- 
mercial value  consistent  with  fair  durability — on  paper. 
It  should  be  furnished  at  the  cost  of  making  and  issuing. 
It  should  be  redeemable  in  labor  and  commodities  only, 
thus  making  its  use  among  the  people  perpetual.  It 
should  be  ample  in  volume  for  the  maximum  of  business, 
some  of  it  to  rest  when  business  drops  to  the  minimum. 
It  should  be  put  in  circulation  through  national  deposi- 
tories, situate  at  the  seat  of  government,  the  state  capi- 
tals and  county  seats.  In  detail:  It  should  be  secured 
by  land  and  products,  returnable  at  any  time,  by  the  hold- 
er, to  the  depository.  The  rate  for  the  use,  I  per  cent 
to  the  nation,  i  to  the  state  and  i  to  the  county,  paid 
out  of  the  taxes  (or  less,  if  that' rate  is  above  the  cost  of 
getting  it  to  the  people).  The  United  States  treasurer, 
the  state  treasurer  and  the  county  treasurer  to  be  disburs- 
ing officers. 

The  state  drawing  from  the  national  depository  and 
the  counties  drawing  from  the  state  depositories, 
amounts  equal  to  the  demands  of  the  people.  The  state 
being  responsible  to  the  general  government  and  the 
counties  to  the  state  government  for  the  money  they  re- 
ceive. The  citizen  to  draw  from  the  depository  in  his 
jurisdiction  for  one  year,  but  returnable  sooner,  if  de- 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  183 

sired,  an  amount  equal  to  25  per  cent  of  the  assessed 
value  of  his  wool,  wheat,  corn  and  cotton  crops — the 
four  great  staples.  The  lien  for  the  return  of  the  money 
to  be  the  same  that  attaches  for  the  payment  of  taxes.  The 
products  thus  pledged  to  be  kept  in*  the  store  houses,  con- 
nected with  the  rail  and  water  carrying  department,  till 
needed  for  consumption. 

The  drawer  of  money  can  only  use  one  of  the  four 
pledges  at  the  same  time.  The  right  is  reserved  to  him 
to  draw  twenty-five  per  cent  of  the  assessed  value  of  his 
land,  if  he  has  not  used  either  of  the  product  pledges. 
This  system  of  issuance — shown  by  the  price  of  these 
four  staples — for  a  series  of  ten  years,  will  furnish  $60 
per  capita  circulating  among  the  people. 

Enabling  each  member  of  society  to  part  with  that 
which  he  has  a  surplus  of  and  obtaining  that  which  he 
lacks  a  sufficiency  of — 

Resulting  at  last,  in  the  actual  ownership  of  homes — 
in  real  estate. 

The  products  used  as  a  pledge  being  ample  to  keep  the 
money  floating  to  do  all  the  business  for  cash. 

The  railroads  nationalized,  the  proprietors  settled  with 
and  the  title  changed  from  private  to  public  ownership, 
and  known  as  the  rail  and  water  carrying  department. 

With  Cabinet  minister,  as  other  government  depart- 
ments. 

The  telegraph  and  telephone  should  be  attached  to  the 
postoffice  department  and  conducted  by  it. 

Those  who  use  them  paying  for  use  the  amount  nec- 
essary to  secure  revenue  sufficient,  and  no  more,  for  ex- 
penses of  operating. 


EQUIVALENCY    OF    EXCHANGE. 

That  which  you  cannot  produce  at  all,  get  of  those  who 
do,  on  terms  as  advantageous  as  possible  to  both. 

That  which  you  have  the  greatest  surplus  of,  get  off 
on  terms  of  like  character.  Having  thus  reciprocated, 
in  the  two  extremes — where  you  had  all  and  where  you 
had  nothing — the  inside  will  adjust  to  these  outside  lines. 


184  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

The  nations  over  against  you  do  the  same  thing,  and 
thus  the  world  fraternizes. 

These  peaceful  regulations  go  on  till  arbitration  takes 
the  place  of  force,  and  earth  becomes  an  empire  of  peace. 

Here  is  the  broad  ground,  to  which  the  humanities  in 
every  nation  are  looking — 

And  the  grandest  names  of  earth  are  bending  their 
energies  to  effect  the  blessed  state — a  world  disarmed! 

Arbitration  the  law  of  nations,  instead  of  the  law  of 
force. 

Heaping  the  wealth  produced  by  all  into  $100  piles, 
and  the  people  into  lots  of  300 ;  then,  with  his  legal  wand, 
"Let  one  of  the  300  people  take  $70  of  the  $100,  and  the 
299  people  take  the  remaining  $30." 

About  ten  cents  to  each  person,  while  we  have  to  pay 
an  annual  interest  of  $2,720,000,000. 

THE   PRECIOUS    METALS. 

"The  stock  of  gold  in  the  world  to-day  is  $3,582,605,- 
ooo.  The  stock  of  silver,  $4,042,700,000.  These  are  but 
a  drop  in  the  ocean  of  the  world's  trade." — (Suetsber.) 
About  $2.58  per  capita  of  silver  and  $2.52  in  gold. 

To  attempt  the  settlement  of  international  "balances," 
in  this  unequaled  age  of  trade  and  commerce,  with  a  little 
"nugget  of  gold  and  a  little  pig  of  silver" — to  say  nothing 
of  the  fifty  billion  of  domestic  trade — is  a  folly,  a  sin, 
that  only  metal  money  men,  blinded  by  the  love  of  un- 
fair gain,  ever  thought  of. 

Let  the  world  fraternize  on  a  basis  practical — on  pa- 
per "orders,"  instead  of  metal  "orders" ; 

For  that  is  what  "money"  is  in  these  "balances." 

It  never  can,  on  gold  and  silver  "orders,"  fraternize. 

To  attempt  it  on  both  of  these  idols  of  the  past  is  to 
bring  periodical  bankruptcy. 

And  to  attempt  it  on  gold  alone,  is  to  bring  universal 
repudiation  of  the  deadly  burden  of  debt  now  upon  the 
world. 

This  struggle  is  for  a  higher  individual  and  national 
life. 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  185 


THE  NEW  AGE. 

"The  powers  of  darkness  have  sent  forth  their  hosts 
to  enter  into  tyrants,  the  rulers  and  officials  of  all  Chris- 
tendom, and  Satan  is  about  to  work  his  masterpiece 
against  the  happiness  of  man.  There  is  likely  to  be  an 
effort  made  by  the  capital  classes  to  fasten  upon  the  world 
a  rule,  through  their  wealth  and  by  means  of  reduced 
wages,  placing  the  masses  upon  a  footing  more  degrad- 
ing than  has  ever  been  known  in  history.  The  spirit  of 
money  worship  seems  to  be  rapidly  developing  in  that  di- 
rection."— Ludback. 

The  holy  books  of  the  world  declare  that  this  age 
is  to  go  out  in  trouble,  unparalleled  in  the  annals  of 
time. 

The  Koran  says  it  shall  perish  with  distress. 

The  Vedas  says  it  shall  die  amid  torture. 

The  Con  Fu  (China)  says  misery  shall  destroy  it. 

The  Christ  says:  "There  shall  then  be  great  tribula- 
tion such  as  there  was  not  since  the  beginning  of  the 
world  to  this  time,  no,  nor  ever  shall  be." 

A  frenzy  for  wealth  will  destroy  our  civilization. — 
D'Israeli. 

"The  world  is  crazy  with  greed." — Julius  Jerome. 

"Any  business  is  tolerated  that  yields  big  per  cent." — 
Bascom. 

"Men  will  commit  crime  for  money." — Hickman. 

"The  commerce  of  the  world  is  legalized  or  consented 
to  piracy." — Faraigo. 

"There  is  not  an  honest  trader  in  England." — Froude. 

"There  shall  come  perilous  times,  men  shall  be  lovers 
of  their  own  selves,  covetous,  boasters,  proud,  blas- 
phemers, unholy,  lovers  of  pleasure,  without  natural  af- 
fection, having  a  form  of  Godliness  without  power." — 
Bible. 

"Evil  shall  go  forth  from  nation  to  nation." — Jeremiah. 

"The  true  will  be  aped  that  the  untrue  may  be  accom- 
plished."— Smelser. 


1 86  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

"God  invoked  to  cloak  the  service  of  the  devil." — Bur- 
gess. 

'The  great  hierarchy  that  is  to  startle  this  age,  is  the 
uniting  of  the  Roman  Catholic  and  Protestant  churches 
in  a  formula,  to  meet,  as  they  will  claim,  the  dangers  that 
free  thought  and  liberalism  are  bringing  on  the  world. 
The  compact  will  be  both  political  and  religious.  This 
will  peril  the  whole  earth  and  bring  trouble  as  has  never 
been  before." — Osman  Bey. 


WHAT  IS   MONEY? 

We  have  heard  Republican  speakers  during  the  cam- 
paign say  that  a  greenback  was  not  money.  The  way 
these  speakers  do  the  thing  is  this :  They  have  a  treasury 
note  (greenback) — say  for  five  dollars.  They  read  on  the 
face  of  it,  "the  United  States  will  pay  bearer  five  dollars." 
Then  they  go  on  and  say  that  this  is  a  promise  to  pay 
money  and  is  not  money.  And  they  go  farther  and  say, 
by  substituting  themselves  in  the  place  of  the  United 
States,  "I  (giving  their  name),  promise  to  pay  five  dol- 
lars to  bearer."  Then  they  go  on  and  say,  "All  I  can  do 
to  keep  my  credit  good  is  to  pay  my  promise  in  money ; 
so,  too,  must  the  United  States  do — pay  their  promise." 
Then  they  emphasize  their  first  assertion  that  a  green- 
back— that  is,  a  United  States  note — is  not  money,  but  a 
promise  to  pay  money. 

These  are  most  specious  and  deceptive  arguments> 
false,  indeed,  and  made  as  they  are,  by  men  of  the  high- 
est standing,  they  are  doing  a  world  of  injury  in  demor- 
alizing the  people  as  to  what  the  greenback  is.  These  men 
are  contradicted  by  both  fact  and  law. 

The  Revised  Statutes  of  the  -United  States,  section 
3,588,  page  712,  in  regard  to  the  greenback,  reads  thus: 

"United  States  notes  shall  be  lawful  money." 

In  this  statute  the  United  States  says  greenbacks  are 
money.  Republican  speakers  of  high  and  low  degree 
say  a  greenback  is  not  money,  but  a  promise  to  pay  money. 
Which  do  you  believe,  the  laws  of  the  United  States, 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  187 

passed  by  Republican  law  makers,  or  a  political  mounte- 
bank, who,  to  carry  an  election,  has  to  dispute  the  laws  of 
the  country? 

The  same  fellows  who  hold  up  a  National  Bank  bill 
and  say,  "The  First  National  Bank  of  Jacksonville  prom- 
ises to  pay  bearer  on  demand  five  dollars,"  and  will  say  to 
you  that  the  bankers  must  pay  that  amount  on  demand  or 
have  their  banks  closed,  and  they  know  at  the  time  that 
when  you  demand  the  five  dollars  in  money  called  for  by 
the  bank  note  that  the  banker  can  pay  his  demand  note 
with  a  five  dollar  greenback.  It — the  greenback — is 
money  in  the  banker's  hands — not  a  promise  to  pay 
money.  Shame  on  such  demagogues. 


FRUITION. 

Owning  a  $100,000  bond,  and  because  you  own  it  the 
government  hands  you  $90,000  as  a  gift  to  fructify  indus- 
try with,  by  loaning  it  at  ten  per  cent.  A  man  so  sit- 
uated, as  he  looks  at  the  "blackbacks,"  can  truly  say: 
"Happy  day  that  fixed  my  choice  on  thee,  my  'bank 
baby.'  "  Then  taking  a  fresh  "cud"  he  cries  with  holy 
zeal  and  patriotic  fervor :  "Down  with  the  rag  baby." 


BANK  PRIVILEGES. 

1.  The  National  treasury  holds  their  bonds  for  safe 
keeping,  and  collects  and  pays  over  the  interest  free  of 
charge. 

2.  The  government  loans  them  90  per  cent  of  the  mar- 
ket value  of  the  bonds  on  twenty  years'  time  at  i  per  cent 
per  annum. 

3.  Both  the  bonds  they  deposit  and  the  money  they  re- 
ceive are  exempt  from  taxation. 

4.  The  treasurer  is  authorized  to  pay  them  the  inter- 
est on  the  bonds  one  year  in  advance  without  rebate. 

5.  They  are  authorized  to  receive  deposits  and  to  loan 
them  out,  and  to  reloan  the  currency  they  receive  and  thus 


1 88  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

get  double  interest — one  interest  on  what  the  govern- 
ment owes  them  and  another  on  what  they  owe  the  gov- 
ernment and  the  people. 

6.  After  they  have  loaned  out  their  money  on  first- 
class  security,  and  pay  day  is  approaching,  the  law  of 
1875  authorizes  them  to  contract  and  retire  their  circu- 
lation, so  they  can  create  a  panic,  bring  prices  down,  and 
bid  in  their  securities  at  half  their  real  value. 

7.  The  same  law  authorizes  them  to  inflate  the  cur- 
rency without  limit,  and  raise  prices  so  as  to  sell  their 
confiscated  securities  back  to  their  owners  at  double  the 
cost  they  were  bid  in  at. 

What  would  the  bankers  say  if  a  crazy  Greenback 
farmer  should  make  the  following  demands  upon  one  of 
their  institutions: 

Farmer — "Mr.  Banker,  I  have  a  deed  of  a  farm  here 
which  cost  me  $10,000.  I  desire  to  deposit  it  in  your 
vaults  for  safe  keeping." 

Banker — "All  right.  You  will,  of  course,  be  willing  to 
pay  us  for  the  care  we  bestow  upon  it?" 

Farmer — "Not  at  all.  I  want  you  to  loan  me  $9,000 
for  twenty  years  at  I  per  cent  per  annum  in  consideration 
of  the  deposit." 

Banker — "Anything  else  ?" 

Farmer — "Yes ;  I  want  you  to  collect  the  rent  on  my 
farm  and  pay  it  over  to  me  without  trouble  or  cost  on  my 
part." 

Banker — "Anything  else  ?" 

Farmer — "I  want  you  to  relieve  me  from  all  taxes,  na- 
tional, state  and  municipal,  on  both  my  farm  and  the 
money  you  loan  me  on  my  deed." 

Banker— "Is  that  all?" 

Farmer — "Oh,  no;  not  by  a  jug  full!  I  want  you  to 
pay  me  the  rent  on  my  farm  a  year  in  advance,  without 
rebate." 

Banker— "Well,   what  next?" 

Farmer — "I  want  you  to  make  me  the  custodian  of 
your  surplus  deposits  and  when  you  require  currency  to 
meet  current  demands  pay  me  8  or  10  per  cent  for  the 
use  of  it." 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  189 

Banker — "What  am  I  to  get  for  all  these  privileges  to 
you  and  sacrifices  on  my  part?" 

Farmer — "One  per  cent  for  the  $9,000  you  loan  me, 
one-half  per  cent  on  the  deposits  you  make  with  me,  and 
the  glory  of  my  confidence  and  the  credit  you  will  be 
honored  with  from  my  family." 


TO  THE  IRISH  PEOPLE. 

READ  AND  THEN  CURSE  THE  POWER  THAT  HAS  SO  WRONGED 

YOU. 

"There  are  twenty  million  acres  of  land  on  the  surface 
of  Ireland — the  half  of  this  is  owned  by  thirty-five  men. 
Nearly  all  of  these  thirty-five  nabobs,  with  hundreds  of 
other  landlords,  are  permanent  absentees  from  Ireland. 

"Taking  the  rent  of  ten  million  acres  at  los  an  acre 
annually,  and  the  absentees  draw  the  amount  of  seven 
and  a  half  million  pounds  sterling  a  year.  This  has  been 
going  on  time  out  of  mind,  but  we  reckon  it  up  only  from 
the  time  the  Irish  parliament  was  suppressed  up  to  1879, 
a  period  of  seventy-nine  years." — 7.  W. 

PLUNDERED  IRELAND. 


How  the  Irish  People  by  Process  of  English  Law  are 
Robbed  and  Impoverished. 


AMOUNT  OF   MONEY  STOLEN   FROM    IRELAND 


Since  the  Union  of  That  Unfortunate  Country  with  Eng- 
land. 


ESTIMATE. 

Absentee  landlord  drain   i    570,000,000 

Custom  and  revenue   380,000,000 

Compound  interest 6,945,000,000 

Total  amount  of  plunder £7,895,000,000 

— Irish  World. 


igo  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

Here  is  the  cause  of  Ireland's  woe,  here  the  reason 
of  her  dying  want. 

God's  land  has  been  robbed  from  God's  bread-eaters 
and  they  left  to  die. 

Here  is  the  page  of  death's  history,  written  in  lines  of 
sin — thirty-five  men  owning  ten  million  acres  of  land. 

Material  wants  must  go  unsatisfied  forever,  if  this 
spoliation  continues.  Here  is  the  secret  that  fattens  the 
tomb. 

Here  the  fact  that  tells  why  Irish  mothers  die  on  the 
heaths. 

Here  is  the  picture  that  all  Christendom  is  looking  at — 

English  law  robbing 

Irish  labor. 

Ireland  the  richest. 

Ireland,  the  Green  Isle. 

Ireland,  the  Emerald;  whence  the  warriors,  poets  and 
orators  of  the  country  have  sprung. 

Ireland,  murdered  at  the  hand  of  English  misrule.  Ire- 
land, whose  thrilling  song  will  live  forever. 

"The  harp  that  once  through  Tara's  halls 

The  soul  of  music  shed, 
Now  hangs  as  mute  on  Tara's  walls 

As  if  that  soul  were  fled. 

So  sleeps  the  pride  of  former  days 

So  glory's  thrill  is  o'er, 
And  hearts  that  once  beat  high  for  praise 

Now  feel  that  pulse  no  more."  — Moore. 

And  as  the  Irishman  thinks  of  the  times  that  are  passed 
and  the  days  of  other  years,  there  creeps  into  the  heart 
memories  that  stir  him,  till  his  face  is  baptised  in  tears. 

And  as  he  moves  upon  the  earth,  an  exile  from  home, 
the  sweet  melody,  once  the  pastoral  of  his  native  heath, 
rings  out  in  sadness — 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  191 

"I  feel  like  one 

Who  treads  alone 

Some  banquet  hall  deserted, 

Whose  lights  are  fled, 

Whose  garland  dead 

And  all  but  he  departed !" 

Material  wants  with  the  Irish  is  a  question  of  life  and 
death. 

Hope  on,  the  day  dawns,  the  regenesis  comes. — 7. 
Harper. 

LANSING,  Mich.,  July  2,  1881. 

The  camp  meeting  at  this  place  is  going  on  and  is  a 
grand  success.  Some  twenty-one  states  are  represented 
and  the  crowd  is  increasing  every  day,  and  has  been  from 
its  commencement  on  Tuesday.  In  moral  power  and  in- 
tellectual force  there  has  been  no  meeting  that  would 
measure  up  with  it  in  this  state  in  two  decades  of  years. 

There  has  been  some  as  grand  speeches  made  as  have 
ever  been  made  in  Michigan.  The  principles  of  repub- 
lican government  have  been  discussed  from  as  lofty  a 
standpoint  as  those  which  inspired  the  patriot  fathers  of 
the  Republic.  And  the  feeling  has  been  of  that  broad, 
Catholic  kind  which  is  always  manifest  among  those  who 
are  moved  by  purpose — one  and  one  common  end.  The 
representative  men  of  the  party  were  there,  and  so  the 
speeches  were  varied  in  scope  and  manner  of  delivery.  But 
with  all  the  differing  shades  of  thought  and  modes  of  ex- 
pression, there  was  an  agreement  as  to  the  grand  propo- 
sitions of  the  Greenback  party.  The  discussions  were 
generous  in  sentiment  and  noble  in  expressions  and  free 
from  abuse  of  anybody.  It  was  not  men,  but  principles ; 
not  tirade,  but  argument. 

In  all  that  pertains  to  high  purpose,  manly  instinct,  in- 
tellectual out-reach  and  moral  heroism,  the  meeting  was 
a  model  worthy  of  the  men  and  women  who  participated 
in  it,  and  in  all  these  it  was  a  grand  success. 

Lansing,  the  capital  city  of  Michigan,  is  a  beautiful 
one,  beautifully  surrounded  and  tastefully  built.  The 
population  is  about  eight  thousand,  and  is  on  a  steady 


i<)2  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

increase.  It  is  well  supplied  with  public  buildings, 
churches,  schools,  hotels,  etc. ;  the  capitol  building  being 
a  very  elegant  structure,  and  commanding  an  extensive 
view. 

The  people  are  hospitable,  intelligent,  and  make  the 
stranger  feel  at  home  while  among  them. 

The  fair  grounds,  in  which  the  camp  meeting  was  held, 
is  one  of  the  finest  in  the  state,  and  we  doubt  if  a  finer 
one  can  be  found  in  the  state.  The  shade  is  magnificent ; 
the  soft  maple  is  spread  over  it  so  as  to  exclude  the  too 
intense  heat  of  the  sun,  turning  the  whole  area  into  a  park 
interspersed  with  well  defined  walks  and  drives,  making  it 
have  the  appearance  of  one  of  the  sylvian  shades  de- 
scribed by  Scott,  as  bordering  on  the  Elysian  fields.  It 
is  seated  so  as  to  give  ample  opportunity  for  rest  and 
contemplation,  as  we  view  from  these  the  panorama  of 
all  that  is  going  on  over  the  grounds.  All  in  all,  it  is  a 
place  that  one,  if  not  inspired  by  it  to  write  poetry,  can 
read  it  with  a  sense  of  pleasure  not  enjoyed  in  a  less 
romantic  and  picturesque  place.  The  buildings  for  the 
purpose  of  carrying  out  the  fair,  are  substantial  and  well 
adapted  to  the  end  for  which  they  were  erected,  and  are 
worthy  of  the  people  of  Michigan  who  planned  them. 

The  stand  and  seating  arrangements  for  the  camp 
meeting  were  fine,  happily  conceived  and  fully  ampli- 
fied in  detail,  and  added  greatly  to  the  beauty  and  com- 
fort of  the  occasion.  As  to  the  stand  and  decorations, 
they  were  tasteful  to  the  highest  poetic  degree.  Mottos, 
inscriptions,  cuplets,  together  with  profound  maxims,  in 
both  ethics,  morals  and  law,  adorned  its  walls,  these  be- 
ing relieved  and  enhanced  also  in  beauty  by  the  skillful 
festooning  of  evergreens, 

"Like  creepers  on  the  walls  of  time, 
Hanging  in  blissful  ease." 

The  floral  decorations,  offerings  and  mementos  wTere 
grand  and  inspiring.  The  great  rod  setting  in  the  center 
of  the  speakers'  platform  was  a  rara  avis,  made  up  of 
the  choice  and  delicate  of  the  whole  family  of  flora.  And 
there  through  the  entire  meeting,  gave  its  presence  like 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  193 

"A  thing  as  chaste  as  a  holy  cross  of  roses, 
And  charming  as  a  naiad's  song." 

-  There  were  some  touching  and  most  pleasant  incidents 
worthy  of  special  mention — kind  of  heart  offerings — so 
delicate  and  touching  as  to  refresh  the  face  with  a  bap- 
tism of  tears. 

The  giving  of  the  flower  token  in  the  shape  of  a  horse 
shoe,  by  the  ladies  of  Lansing,  to  "Uncle  Solon,"  and  his 
manly  response,  is  one  of  them.  It  was  a  beautiful  offer- 
ing, made  up  with  all  the  care  and  taste  of  the  noble 
women  who  conceived  and  executed  it.  Large,  chaste, 
beautiful,  it  lay  in  its  box,  about  as  large  again  as  an 
ordinary  horseshoe,  composed  of  the  very  finest  of  the 
floral  family.  Thus  it  lay  as  it  was  passed  to  the  hero  of 
them  "Steers."  As  he  looked  upon  them — taken  wholly 
by  surprise — then  as  the  stillness  was  complete,  there  came 
the  words :  "Presented  by  the  ladies  of  Lansing  to  Uncle 
Solon."  And  the  silence  for  a  moment  seemed  more 
intense.  Then  came,  in  choking  utterance:  "God  bless 
the  hearts  that  conceived  and  the  hands  that  gave." 

Then  Uncle  Solon  went  off  in  one  of  his  happy  strains 
and  said  he  would  carry  it  to  "Aunt  Ann,"  and  it  should 
be  made  a  household  memento.  The  wild  flower  of 
Texas  and  the  rose  of  Maine  should  blend  in  one  kiss 
with  the  "bokay"  from  Michigan,  and  all  be  cherished  as 
the  apple  of  the  eye. 

Tears  and  enthusiasm  blended  and  the  scene  for  a  few 
minutes  was  touching  and  feeling  to  the  highest  degree. 
And  similar  to  it  was  the  one  where  the  same  ladies  pre- 
sented a  like  offering  to  General  West,  which  brought  out 
one  of  the  noblest  of  sayings  from  that  big-hearted  man. 

It  was  a  beautiful  wreath  of  flowers,  and  when  pre- 
sented to  him  by  the  committee  with, 

"The  women  of  Lansing  on  behalf  of  the  Greenback 
women  of  Michigan,  send  to  their  Greenback  sisters  of 
Mississippi  this  love  greeting,"  a  shout  went  up  that 
made  the  welkin  ring. 

The  general  could  not  speak  for  a  minute,  but  then 
said: 

"I  accept  it  in  the  same  noble  spirit  in  which  it  is  given 


194  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

and  will  present  it  to  the  Greenback  women  of  Mississippi 
as  your  offering,  and  then,  as  far  as  we  are  concerned, 
the  Union  is  restored  truly." 

Many  other  agreeable  incidents  occurred,  many  laugh- 
able episodes  burst  upon  the  crowd,  causing  uproarious 
hilarity  and  hearty  hand-clapping,  the  detail  of  which 
would  be  too  long  for  this  letter. 

The  band  which  entertained  the  people,  calling  the  as- 
sembly together  by  their  stirring  notes,  is  no  ordinary 
one.  Some  of  the  grandest  pieces  were  executed  by  it. 
The  make-up  and  distribution  of  parts,  so  as  to  make 
a  harmony  perfect,  has  been  studied  and  executed  to  per- 
fection. 

We  never  heard  sweeter  strains  than  were  sent  forth  in 
course  of  the  meeting.  Pieces  were  performed  in  tones 
so  soft  and  distinct  that  one  was  wooed  by  them,  as  by 
the  song  of  the  Zephyr. 

Praise  was  in  the  mouth  of  all  in  regard  to  the  gentle- 
manly qualities  and  high  musical  attainments  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Lansing  Knight  Templars'  Band. 

The  unrivalled  Glee  Club,  of  Jacksonville,  111.,  Profes- 
sors Lurton  and  Stout,  gave  more  than  satisfaction.  Their 
magnificent  singing  was  more  than  a  success — it  proved 
them  the  best  platform  glee  singers  in  the  country.  *  * 

Everything  moved  just  as  smoothly  as  oil  in  the  man- 
agement and  conducting  of  the  daily  exercises. 

We  were  compelled  to  leave  before  the  feast  was  over, 
to  be  at  another  place  on  the  Fourth  of  July,  but  from  the 
grand  things  achieved  up  to  9  p.  m.,  Saturday,  we  had 
evidence  of  an  unbounded  success  and  that  the  camp 
meeting  programme,  incorporated  for  the  summer  and 
fall  campaign,  will  achieve  the  grandest  of  results,  and 
lead  to  an  organization  and  massing  of  forces  that  will 
prove  resistless. — /.  Harper. 


INSANITY. 

What  is  this  fearful  malady — insanity?  At  this  time 
an  inquiry  is  pertinent.  The  president  of  the  United 
States  has  been  assaulted  with  the  most  deadly  intent  to 
kill  him.  That  killing  (if  he  dies)  will  be  murder  if  the 
party  making  the  attempt  had  the  mental  capacity  to 
conceive  the  act  and  physical  ability  to  execute  the  design. 
Murder  is  for  a  person  with  malice  aforethought  to  take 
the  life  of  any  human  being.  That  is,  the  purpose  must 
be  deliberately,  maliciously  and  unlawfully  formed  and 
then  carried  out  in  order  to  the  crime  of  murder. 

"Murder — act  of  unlawfully  killing  a  human  being 
with  premeditated  malice." 

"Assassination — to  murder  by  secret  assault." 

It  will  be  seen  by  the  definitions  above  that  it  is  essential 
to  both  "murder"  and  "assassination"  that  the  act  must 
be  the  result  of  "premeditated  malice." 

Now  then,  if  a  person  is  capable  of  exercising  his  mind 
in  "premeditating"  a  thing  is  he  insane  while  thus  act- 
ing? What  is  "premeditated  ?"  Can  an  insane  man  ex- 
ercise the  mind  so  as  to  go  through  all  that  is  included  in 
the  operation  of  premeditation? 

"Premeditated" — "conceived,"  "designed,"  "contrived 
beforehand." 

Now,  if  a  man  can  "contrive  beforehand,"  and  then 
after  his  plans  are  perfected  he  go  and  consummate  the  act 
he  had  before  contrived,  why  should  such  a  person  be  re- 
leased because  he  is  called  insane.  That  would  excuse 
everybody  in  the  world  from  being  punished,  and  insanity 
would  become  the  panacea  for  murder — that  is,  the  pun- 
ishment for  murder. — /.  Harper, 


IPS 


THE  WORK  IN  THE  FIELD. 

The  senior,*  under  the  appointment  of  the  Lecture  Bu- 
reau, has  been  filling  an  engagement  in  Missouri.  The 
work  in  the  field  is  more  than  prosperous,  is  more  than 
successful.  And  this,  too,  in  the  business  season  of  the 
year.  The  harvest  just  concluded,  the  threshing  in  the 
very  midst  of  its  hurry  and  the  grass  and  oat  crop  coming 
on  makes  the  farming  interest  of  Missouri  in  the  month 
of  July,  one  of  hurry,  labor  and  perseverance.  Notwith- 
standing all  this  the  people  left  their  work  and  came  to 
the  meetings  at  the  appointed  places  and  gave  rousing 
responses  to  the  words  we  uttered. 

The  weather,  too,  was,  and  is  still,  hotter  than  has  been 
known  for  years,  yet  this  did  not  keep  them  away,  but  at 
every  appointment  we  had  a  big  and  splendid  meeting. 

At  Warrenton,  our  first  speech,  we  had  propounded  to 
us  by  a  gentleman,  this  question:  "How  can  you  make 
money  out  of  nothing?" 

We  answered  we  did  not  think  it  could  be  done.  We 
further  remarked  that  the  leaders  of  both  the  old  parties 
had  been  trying  to  do  that  impossible  thing  for  several 
years,  but  had  not  succeeded  in  "making  money  out  of 
nothing,"  but  they  had,  during  the  same  time,  "made  to 
themselves  lots  of  property  by  opposition  to  law."  That 
is,  they  had  "made  property  for  themselves  out  of  noth- 
ing by  taking  it  from  their  neighbors." 

From  Warrenton  we  took  our  journey  to  Mexico.  Not 
the  Mexico  that  Grant  has  lately  returned  from,  but  the 
beautiful  little  city  of  Missouri.  And  then  we  had  to  use 
the  beautiful  language  of  Doiter  Doodridge :  "High  flyin' 
and  deep  divin'." 

We  were  called  a  "fool"  and  we  took  the  compliment 
in  the  spirit  in  which  it  was  given. 

We  answered  the  young  sprig  who  gave  us  the  high 
title  that  God  always  took  the  foolish  ones  to  confound 
the  wise,  and  that  I  was  glad  to  be  used  to  "confound"  as 

196 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  197 

wise  a  man  as  he.  After  that  the  same  person  asked  me 
to  take  a — drink  of  water  with  him.  But  we  were  on  our 
way  to  the  train,  having  drank  coffee  at  the  hotel  to  such 
an  extent  as  to  preclude  all  desire  for  "water." 

Another  long  ride  took  us  to  Marshall,  and  there  we 
met  hosts  of  friends.  "My  friend"  Miller,  of  the  Slater 
Monitor,  took  us  by  the  hand  as  soon  as  we  "lit  out"  at 
the  "tavern" — for  that  is  what  they  call  their  hotels  out 
there — and  shook  it,  "you  bet,"  as  it  has  not  been  since  he 
and  I  met  at  Meredosia  in  1877,  and  my  speech  there,  as 
he  told,  converted  him  to  be  a  Greenbacker.  Well,  at  Mar- 
shall, a  young  lawyer  gave  out  that  he  would  answer  me, 
and  I  sent  him  kind  words  and  told  him  to  "pull  in,"  as 
it  was  a  free  fight. 

The  hall  was  packed  to  its  utmost  and  the  weather  as 
hot  as  it  c&uld  be,  and  the  sweat  poured  from  the  per- 
spiring body  till  shirt  collar  went  down  as  a  cabbage  leaf 
in  boiling  water. 

The  question  was  asked  in  kindness,  so  we  answered 
it  in  equal  kindness:  "Is  not  gold  the  universal  money 
of  the  world?" 

We  answered  that  there  was  NO  SUCH  THING  AS  MONEY 
OF  THE  WORLD.  That  statement  was  the  clap-trap  of 
demagogues  and  charletans  to  cheat  the  voter  and  mis- 
lead him.  That  every  nation  claimed  and  exercised  the 
supreme  right  of  making  its  own  money.  We  gave  the 
instance  recorded  of  the  case  in  1847  in  England,  where 
gold  is  the  standard,  the  LEGAL  TENDER  MONEY,  and  that 
is  all  the  kind  of  money  there  is — LEGAL  TENDER. 

We  gave  the  instance,  when,  in  1847,  a  man  wno  ^ac^ 
20,000  pounds  sterling  silver  in  the  bank  of  England  he 
was  forced  into  bankruptcy.  For  five  thousand  dollars, 
because  for  his  whole  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  in 
silver,  he  could  not  get  a  loan  of  the  small  sum  of  five 
thousand  dollars.  Gold  was  money,  silver  was  not.  So 
for  one  twentieth  of  what  he  owed  the  bank,  he  was 
forced  to  the  wall  and  ruined,  and  that,  too,  when  the 
bank  held  nineteen  times  as  much  silver  as  the  man  owed 
the  bank. 

Then,  as  contrast  to  that  showing,  we  cited  the  case  in 
1854,  of  the  man  who,  in  Calcutta,  India,  had  in  bank 


198  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

60,000  pounds  sterling,  in  gold,  and  owed  ten  thousand 
dollars,  and  yet  he  was  forced  into  insolvency  and  crushed 
because  with  three  hundred  thousand  dollars  in  gold  in 
bank,  he  could  not  raise  on  it  ten  thousand  dollars  to  pay 
his  note. 

In  Calcutta  silver  was  money  and  gold  was  not.  So  a 
man  with  thirty  times  as  much  gold  in  the  bank  as  he 
owed,  could  not  pay  his  debt  and  was  ruined.  These 
illustrations  put  a  face  on  the  case  and  my  young  lawyer 
friend  by  the  time  I  had  got  in  my  three  hours,  concluded 
he  would  put  off  his  reply  until  he  could  see  Senator  Vest 
and  learn  from  him  whether  it  was  a  fact  that  in  early 
times  in  Virginia,  tobacco  was  used  as  money  and  a  lot 
of  "Chewers"  got  hold  of  the  money  and  "chewed"  it  up, 
thereby  contracting  the  currency  and  bringing  on  a 
panic,  or  words  to  that  effect. 

Well,  we  had  a  good  time  and  "Laid  on  Mackduff," 
etc. 

*Colonel  Jesse  Harper,  Gen.  Ed.  Advocate. 


'CONSPIRACY  OF  WEALTH." 


THE    MYSTIC    BABYLON    OF     REVELATION;     A     HIERARCHY, 
POLITICO-RELIGIO,    OF    EVIL. 


ANOTHER    ELOQUENT   AND    CHARACTERISTIC    LETTER    FROM 
COL.  JESSE  HARPER. 


Col.  S.  F.  Norton,  Editor  Sentinel : 

"The  powers  of  darkness  have  sent  forth  their  hosts 
to  enter  into  tyrants,  the  rulers  and  officials  of  all  Chris- 
tendom, and  Satan  is  about  to  work  his  masterpiece 
against  the  happiness  of  man.  There  is  likely  to  be  an 
effort  made  by  the  capital  classes  to  fasten  upon  the 
world  a  rule,  through  their  wealth  and  by  means  of  re- 
duced wages,  placing  the  masses  upon  a  footing  more  de- 
grading than  has  ever  been  known  in  history.  The  spirit 
of  money  worship  seems  to  be  rapidly  developing  in  that 
di  rection. ' ' — Ludback. 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  199 

The  holy  books  of  the  world  declare  that  this  age  is 
to  go  out  in  trouble,  unparalleled  in  the  annals  of  time. 

The  Koran  says  it  shall  perish  with  distress. 

The  Vedas  says  it  shall  die  amid  torture. 

The  Con  Fu  (China)  says  misery  shall  destroy  it. 

The  Christ  says :  "There  shall  then  be  great  tribulation 
such  as  there  was  not  since  the  beginning  of  the  world 
to  this  time,  no,  nor  ever  shall  be." 

A  frenzy  for  wealth  will  destroy  our  civilization. — 
D'Israeli. 

"The  world  is  crazy  with  greed." — Julius  Jerome. 

"Any  business  is  tolerated  that  yields  big  per  cent."- 
Bascom. 

"Men  will  commit  crime  for  money." — Hickman. 

"The  commerce  of  the  world  is  legalized  or  consented 
to  piracy." — Faraigo. 

"There  is  not  an  honest  trader  in  England." — Froude. 

"There  shall  come  perilous  times,  men  shall  be  lovers 
of  their  own  selves,  covetous,  boasters,  proud,  blas- 
phemers, unholy,  lovers  of  pleasure,  without  natural  af- 
fection, having  a  form  of  Godliness  without  power." — 
Bible. 

"Evil  shall  go  forth  from  nation  to  nation." — Jeremiah. 

"The  true  will  be  aped  that  the  untrue  may  be  accom- 
plished."— Smelser. 

"God  invoked  to  cloak  the  service  of  the  devil." — Bur- 
gess. 

"The  great  hierarchy  that  is  to  startle  this  age,  is  the 
uniting  of  the  Roman  Catholic  and  Protestant  Churches 
in  a  formula,  to  meet,  as  they  will  claim,  the  dangers  that 
free  thought  and  liberalism  are  bringing  on  the  world. 
The  compact  will  be  both  political  and  religious.  This 
will  peril  the  whole  earth  and  bring  trouble  such  as  has 

never  been  before?' — Osman  Bey. 

*  *  *  *  *  *  * 

These  strong  statements  are  but  the  formulated  record 
of  the  past.  History  is  repeating  iself.  Man,  as  of  old, 
has  corrupted  his  way  on  the  earth. 

The  right  and  the  wrong  have  waged  their  fight  from 
the  gates  of  paradise  to  this  hour. 

The  struggle  is  for  the  life,  the  harvest  time  is  here. 


2OO  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

He  who  looks  for  peace  under  present  conditions  will  be 
disappointed.  The  time  for  separating  tares  and  wheat 
has  come  and  it  is  like  dividing  the  soul  from  the  body. 

Every  nation  on  earth  is  against  God,  against  human- 
ity. 

Their  emblems  are  bloody  and  cruel — Lions,  Bears, 
Leopards,  Dogs,  Eagles,  Snakes,  and  Nondescripts.  All 
these  are  life-destroying,  flesh-eating  monsters. 

The  earth,  through  its  long  centuries,  has  been  domi- 
nated by  them.  The  end  is  near. 

Truth  is  at  the  throttle-valve  to  run  the  car  of  justice 
over  the  steel-clad  way  to  a  government  of  the  people. 

The  "Conspiracy  of  Wealth"  has  a  lie  at  the  throttle 
valve,  running  the  car  of  Juggernaut  over  a  highway, 
made  of  the  bodies  and  souls  of  men,  to  a  government 
of  a  class. 

This  has  gone  on  till  heaven  is  appalled ; 

Hell  jubilating. 

Liberty  cries  "halt." 

Humanity  cries  "help." 

God  hurls  Babylon  into  the  ocean. 

Earth  jubilates! 

In  her  was  found  everything  that  the  unholy  passions 
of  man  trafficked  in.  The  catalogue  of  her  commerce 
fills  the  heart  of  this  age  as  full  as  sin  fills  hades. 

This  is  the  price  current  of  the  board  of  trade  of  great 
Babylon. 

"The  merchandise  of  gold,  and  silver,  and  precious 
stones,  and  of  pearls,  and  fine  linen,  and  purple,  and  silk, 
and  scarlet,  and  all  thyme  wood,  and  all  manner  of  vessels 
of  ivory,  and  all  manner  of  vessels  of  most  precious  wood, 
and  of  brass,  and  of  marble,  and  cinnamon,  and  odors, 
and  ointments,  and  frankincense,  and  wine  and  oil,  and 
fine  flour,  and  wheat,  and  beasts,  and  sheep,  and  horses, 
and  chariots,  and  slaves,  and  souls  of  men — and  the  fruits 
(sources  of  wealth)  that  the  soul  lusted  after." 

How  the  "Conspiracy  of  Wealth"  wept  as  this  "queen" 
sank  out  of  sight. 

Uncovered,  appalled,  as  her  smoke  ascended,  the  habit- 
able globe  cried — "Alas,  alas,  that  great  city  decked 
with  gold !" 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  201 

The  "Conspiracy  of  Wealth" — politico-religio — is 
Sin's  masterpiece. 

It  murders  humanity;  it  insults  God. 

It  thrusts  itself  to  the  front; 

It  dominates  the  state ; 

It  dominates  the  church ; 

Every  wrong  to  man  is  perpetuated  under  the  forms 
clerical  and  civic. 

Under  the  compact  the  church  and  the  state  make  the 
earth  a  battlefield — Death's  recruiting  station. 

The  "Conspiracy  of  Wealth"  rules  states,  dictates  their 
policies  and  makes  their  laws. 

It  governs  the  church,  dictating  its  creed  and  ordering 
its  march. 

The  age  is  a  misnomer. 

Christianity  is  a  hierarchy  of  false  pretense ;  a  counter- 
feit millennium.  It  must  give  place  to  the  hierarchy  of 
the  skies,  the  millennium  of  the  Christ. 

We  are  at  the  very  birth  of  a  higher  dispensation,  at  the 
very  door  of  the  disenthrallment  of  Christianity — the  res- 
titution of  the  earth. 


THE  EGG  OF  THE  SERPENT. 

The  egg  of  the  serpent  was  laid  during  the  war  that 
has  hatched  into  a  million. 

In  1862 

The  "Hazzard  Circular"  ordered  the  march  to  be  made 
— by  the  "Conspiracy  of  Wealth." 

The  aim  was  to  subvert  free  institutions  by  enslaving 
the  masses. 

This  malign  "influence"  (power)  took  possession  of 
the  three  co-ordinate  branches  of  the  government — execu- 
tive, judicial  and  legislative. 

And  to  make  their  work  have  the  sanctity  of  religion 
— bound  the  church  to  this  three-headed  monster. 

The  cry  was  to  be  a  plausible  pretext  to  hide  the  secret 
villiany. 

The  state  and  the  church  must  cry  aloud — both  law  and 
religion  must  back  the  conspiracy. 


2O2  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

The  trail  of  the  serpent  is  witnessed  in  the  ruin  of 
twenty-five  years. 

1.  The  two  exceptions  on  the  greenback. 

2.  The  National  Bank  act. 

3.  The  Contraction  act. 

4.  The  Credit  Strengthening  act. 

5.  The  Funding  act. 

6.  The  Demonetizing  act. 

7.  The  Resumption  act. 

All  cemented  by  the  clamorous  lie — "public  credit,  pub- 
lic honor." 

The  land  grants,  equal  in  extent  to  nine  states  like 
Ohio,  exempt  from  taxation  and  not  subject  to  settlement 
by  homestead  or  pre-emption. 

This  gift  of  an  empire,  as  large  as  the  six  New  Eng- 
land states,  New  Jersey,  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio, 
Indiana  and  Michigan,  was  the  morsel  thrown  to  the  rail- 
road corporations. 

Then  bonds  to  the  same  corruptly  created  vampire,  in 
amount  (now)  equal  to  one  hundred  million  dollars. 

The  "Conspiracy  of  Wealth" 

Dominates  the  land ; 

Dominates  the  coal ; 

Dominates  the  gases  (illuminating  and  heating). 

It  dominates  the  public  functions  of  the  government. 

Has  taken  hold  of  the  reserved  rights  of  the  people  and 

runs  them  as  private  enterprises  for  its  own  emolument. 
*  *  *  #  *  * 

The  "Conspiracy  of  Wealth"  descends  to  details.  It 
reduced  wheat,  from  1866  to  1888,  from  $2.05  (coin)  per 
bushel  to  68  cents  per  bushel. 

It  reduced  wages  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest,  from 
$2.03  per  day  in  1866  to  84  cents  in  1888. 

It  caused  more  failures  than  in  any  54  years. 

It  caused  more  felonies  than  in  any  48  years. 

It  caused  more  murders  than  in  any  50  years. 

It  caused  more  lunatics  than  in  any  55  years. 

It  caused  more  suicides  than  in  any  60  years. 

It  caused  more  divorces  than  in  any  65  years. 

It  assassinated  Lincoln  and  Garfield. 

All  this  in  a  quarter  of  a  century! 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  203 

It  increased  burdens  and  lessened  ability  to  bear  them, 
then  scourged  the  crushed  victims  for  complaining  of  the 
added  burden. 

It  grew  millionaires  from  10  in  1866  to  5,000  in  1890. 

It  created  tramps  by  enforced  poverty — for,  making 
millionaires  (by  class  laws)  results  in  tramps  as  marriage 
results  in  offspring. 

It  destroyed  hope,  engendered  despair,  and  caused  sor- 
row in  heaven. 

It  swelled  the  debts,  from  six  billions  in  1866  to  Thirty- 
Five  Billions  in  1888. 

And  these  debts  do  not  represent  Ten  Billions  of 
wealth ! 

The  Twenty-Five  Billions  is  watered  stock — fraud. 

It  robbed  labor  everywhere  to  enrich  the  money  class. 

LABOR  DEGRADED — MONEY  EXALTED. 

Wealth  produced  has  been  wrested  from  the  producer 
without  equivalent.  The  equations  of  production  have 
been  balanced  by  Greed,  so  that,  of  the  wealth  produced 
per  capita,  Labor  has  two-sevenths  and  Money  five  sev- 
enths. 

It  has  ruthlessly  destroyed  homes! 

Five-eighths  of  the  people  owned  their  homes  in  1866 
and  only  three-eighths  were  tenants.  In  1889  only  three- 
eighths  owned  their  homes  and  five-eighths  were  tenants. 

It  caused  the  crime  of  all  crimes,  by  fastening  on  the 
people  the  awful  condition,  viz. : 

Land  and  products  lower ; 

Debts  greater ; 

Money  higher  than  it  has  been  in  a  century  the  globe 
over. 

The  "Conspiracy  of  Wealth"  guided  by  the  masked 
hand  of  Money — 

Owns  and  controls  the  Executive ; 

Owns  and  controls  the  Judiciary; 

Owns  and  controls  the  Legislatures  of  the  nation. 

Unless  this  iron  chain  that  binds  our  government  to 
corporations,  combines  and  trusts  is  broken  we  will  be- 
come landless  tenants  and  groveling  serfs. 


204  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

The  "Conspiracy  of  Wealth"  has  manipulated  the  "sil- 
ver question"  and  contracted  the  whole  volume  of  money 
so  as  to  shrink  prices  30  per  cent  and  appreciate  gold  43 
per  cent. 

And  the  government  is  supinely  looking  on  while  one 
scheme  after  another  is  attempted  to  hold  silver  in  a  sub- 
ordinate place,  and  thus  keep  the  volume  of  money  small. 
And  these  schemes,  some  one  of  them,  will  succeed — 
money  has  its  way. 

If  the  people  were  educated  sufficiently  to  sustain  a  true 
civilization  they  would  demonetise  both  metals  and  use 
paper  money! 

This  would  be  a  blow  at  the  heart  of  this  monster ! 

Such  a  step  would  exalt  Christianity  and  ennoble  gov- 
ernment and  multiply  happiness,  by  ratios  untold. 

But  we  are  barbarians — use  metal-money — and  allow 
three  per  cent  of  population  to  own  seventy  per  cent  of 
the  wealth. 

THE  REMEDY. 

The  "Conspiracy  of  Wealth"  must  be  abolished,  its 
methods  utterly  destroyed. 

This  can  be  done  peaceably  if  the  people  will. 

The  reserved  rights  of  the  people,  embraced  in  the  con- 
stitution, must  be  restored  to  them. 

Every  franchise  of  a  public  trust,  granted  by  the  law, 
must  be  revoked  and  all  public  functions,  that  are  sov- 
ereign, operated  by  the  government,  the  agent  in  the  in- 
terest of  all  the  people,  at  cost  of  maintenance. 

The  government  must  be  brought  back  to  the  perform- 
ance of  justice,  so  as  to  secure  public  tranquility. 

A  high  salaried  official  class  will  destroy  liberty,  as  a 
high  salaried  ministry  will  destroy  pure  religion. 

Pay  for  like  duties  in  the  same  ratio  as  paid  for  like 
services  in  private  life.  The  high  emoluments  now  in- 
hering to  office-holding  creates  a  mushroom  nobility.  It 
leads  to  buying  office  because  "there  is  money  in  it."  It 
is  the  bastard  offspring  of  effete  aristocracy.  It  is  the 
other  angle  of  a  titled  nobility,  without  the  culture  and 
refinement.  It  is  shoddy  and  fills  office  with  shoddy  men. 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  205 

Strip  our  institutions  of  the  sickly  surroundings  of  no- 
bility ; 

Make  the  buying  of  office  and  corrupting  the  ballot, 
felony. 

And  for  the  second  offense  make  it  capital. 

In  the  spirit  of  the  words  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  make  this 
a  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people  and  for  the 
people. 

Money  is  the  soul  of  the  "Conspiracy  of  Wealth." 

It  is  the  corporation  of  all  corporations,  the  combine 
of  all  combines,  the  trust  of  all  trusts. 

The  present  mode  and  use  of  it  must  be  rooted  up  and 
annihilated.  As  it  now  stands  it  creates  a  class  who  deal 
in  money ;  generally  they  are  wholly  ignorant  of  the  func- 
tions of  money,  and  those  who  know  suppress  their  knowl- 
edge for  the  advancement  of  their  gains. 

As  the  system  now  stands  and  as  now  used,  it  leads  all 
other  branches  of  sovereignty  in  destroying  conscience 
and  generating  crime. 

It  is  at  the  bottom  of  the  troubles  now  shaking  Chris- 
tendom. 

The  emission  of  money  is  solely  a  sovereign  act.  To 
bestow  it  on  individuals  is  to  ultimately  ruin  them  and  de- 
stroy civilization.  Its  love  in  human  hearts  is  a  deadly 
distemper. 

Our  government  intensifies  that  malady  by  increasing 
Selfishness  and  Greed.  This  power  over  the  money  must 
be  restored  to  the  people — who  are  the  sovereign  power. 
Let  the  government  manufacture  (make)  all  the  money, 
enough  to  do  the  business — without  credit. 

Place  in  each  state  capital,  under  proper  authority,  an 
amount  sufficient  for  that  jurisdiction. 

Then  at  each  county  seat — where  the  titles  of  the  lands 
are  recorded — place  enough  to  supply  the  wants  of  busi- 
ness, and  demands  of  the  people. 

To  be  furnished  at  cost — at  a  low  rate  of  interest — on 
landed  pledge,  to  be  returned  to  the  depository  at  any  time 
at  the  option  of  the  receiver. 

And  encourage  the  use  of  money,  as  we  do  the  use  of 
stamps. 

And  all  money  being  money,  as  all  stamps  are  stamps, 


206  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper 

it  could  no  more  be  cornered  than  can  stamps  be  cornered. 

And  there  would  be  no  more  speculation  in  money  than 
there  is  in  stamps. 

And  there  would  be  no  more  fools  who  would  load 
themselves  down  with  money  than  fools  now  who  load 
themselves  down  with  stamps.  Both  systems  would  regu- 
late themselves  to  the  advancement  of  humanity. 

For,  as  the  more  postage  stamps  that  are  put  away  from 
each,  the  more  rapid  is  the  growth  of  Christian  civiliza- 
tion. 

So,  it  would  be  with  money. 

And  neither  of  them  (money  and  stamps)  are  of  any 
value  or  use  till  they  are  put  away — till  you  part  with 
them. 

Neither  could  or  would  it  be  "cornered"  any  more 
than  stamps  can  be  "cornered." 

All  railroad  charters  should  be  repealed  and  the  roads 
capitalized  and  run  by  the  government,  the  agent  of  the 
people,  at  cost,  which  would  be  about  three  mills  a 
ton  a  mile,  while  under  the  present  management  it  is 
about  fourteen  mills  a  ton  a  mile.  More  than  four  times 
as  high  as  in  any  other  civilized  country. 

The  settlement  should  be  made  on  a  liberal  basis,  as 
these  franchises  have  been  granted — which  they  should 
not  have  been. 

Give  to  those  now  in  control,  their  money  and  three  per 
cent  on  it,  deducting  what  they  have  received,  less  ex- 
pense, and  thus  the  system  would  change  without  fric- 
tion. 

7.  Take  all  the  land  granted  back — it  should  never 
have  been  granted — making  an  equitable  settlement  in  re- 
gard to  it.  Then  hold  it  for  homes  exclusively,  to  be 
ready  when  needed.  And  not  to  pass  from  public  domain 
— except  for  homes,  to  be  determined  as  to  amount — by 
actual  occupancy  and  use. 

That  not  needed  for  use  to  be  held  by  the  government, 
the  agent,  as  public  domain.  If,  while  it  is  public  domain, 
any  wish  to  use  it — for  grasses,  or  any  other  appendage — 
so  as  not  to  injure  it,  let  them  use  it,  paying  for  the  use, 
and  the  money  so  received  to  go  into  the  public  treasury 
to  lessen  taxes. 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  207 

In  order  to  make  those  holding  large  grants  willing 
to  let  them  come  back  to  the  people  let  them  be  taxed 
double  the  amount  of  occupied,  used  lands.  This  would 
decentralize  land,  increase  homes,  and  diffuse  happiness. 

No  non-resident  alien  should  own  land  in  this  country 
— no  land  should  ever  have  been  sold  to  them.  Change 
the  law  and  give  them  reasonable  time  to  sell.  If  they 
do  not  sell,  then  the  government  (the  agent)  should  pay 
them  a  just  price  for  their  lands  and  let  it  become  public 
domain  as  all  other  lands — except  those  occupied  and  used 
as  homes. 

8.  Tax  all  the  lands  (except  the  public)  and  raise  bal- 
ance of  revenue  to  support  the  government  if  any  is 
needed,  by  an  income  tax  beginning  above  one  thousand 
dollars.  Inaugurate  and  encourage  a  policy  to  enable 
each  family  to  secure  a  home — actual  occupancy  and  use 
to  be  the  title,  paying  for  it  the  cost  of  allotment,  setting 
it  from  the  public  domain. 

Exempt  such  home  of  the  family  to  the  amount  of  one 
thousand  dollars,  from  taxes  and  all  liens. 

Natural  gifts  to  the  race,  stored  in  the  earth,  beneficial 
to  man,  should  be  under  the  control  of  the  government, 
the  agent,  and  worked  for  the  benefit  of  all  the  people 
alike. 

These  general  outlines,  if  utilized,  will  make  this  earth, 
in  some  degree,  what  seers,  prophets,  patriots,  men,  in  all 
ages  by-gone,  have  prayed  for,  sung  of,  and  which  we 
think  the  Bible  promises,  justice  requires  and  humanity 
is  now  crying  for  with  a  cry  that  moves  the  heart  of  God. 

J.  HARPER. 

818  N.  Gilbert  St.,  Danville,  111. 


FROM  COL.  JESSE  HARPER. 

WITH    ELOQUENT   WORDS   HE     DESCRIBES     THE      PAST     AND 
PRESENT. 


AND  WITH  PROPHETIC  PEN  FORETELLS  THE  NEW  AGE. 


PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS  FOR  THE  ELEVATION  AND  BETTER- 
MENT OF   MANKIND. 


'SOCIETY  WILL  AT  LAST  BLEND  IN  UNIVERSAL  BROTHER- 
HOOD/' 


Danville,  111.,  June  30,  1893. — Col  Norton,  Editor  Sen- 
tinel : 

THE  NEW  CODE. 

Statutes  of  Justice  and  decrees  of  equity  will  herald  the 
advent  of  the  New  Age. 

The  mighty  Land,  Transportation  and  Money  problems 
will  be  correlates ; 

And  their  co-working  will  bless  mankind. 

Just  taxation  will  wipe  out  the  fiction  incident  to  unjust 
discrimination. 

These  principles  of  right,  thus  used,  will  mould  men 
into  a  brotherhood. 

Government,  as  manipulated,  has  grown  our  infinite 
resources  into  a  Conspiracy  of  Wealth. 

This  conspiracy  must  be  abolished; 

Its  methods  destroyed. 

Statutes  of  justice  and  decrees  of  equity  will  do  it. 

The  reserved  rights  of  the  people,  embraced  in  the 
constitution,  must  be  restored  to  them. 

Every   franchise  of  a  public  trust,   granted  by  law, 
must  be  revoked. 

208 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  209 

All  public  functions  that  are  sovereign  must  be  car- 
ried on  by  the  government — 

In  the  interest  of  all ; 

At  the  cost  of  maintenance. 

The  government  must  be  brought  back  to  the  per- 
formance of  justice; 

So  as  to  secure  public  tranquility. 

"Economy  of  resources  is  a  virtue," 

"Waste  of  substance  is  a  sin." 

A  high  salaried  official  class  will  destroy  liberty; 

As  a  highly  paid  ministry  will  corrupt  religion. 

Every  officer  to  serve  the  public  must  be  elected  by 
a  direct  vote  of  the  people. 

Pay  for  duties  public  the  same  paid  for  like  service 
in  private  life. 

Strip  office  of  all  emoluments ; 

Make  the  holding  self-sustaining; 

Not  a  thing  in  the  "political  market" — 

To  be  secured  through  money. 

The  corrupt  surroundings  of  official  life  is  debauch- 
ing. 

It  leads  to  "buying  office" — 

By  patronage. 

It  is  the  germ  of  aristocracy. 

It  spawns  an  untitled  "nobility"; 

Without  culture. 

Strip  our  institutions  of  the  sickly  surroundings  of 
royalty. 

In  the  language  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  make  this  a  govern- 
ment of  the  people,  by  all  the  people  and  for  the  people. 

Disfranchise  the  sellers  of  their  votes. 

Send  to  the  penitentiary  those  who  purchase  the  votes. 

THE  NATION  TO  MANAGE  ALL  PUBLIC  FUNCTIONS  AT 
COST. 

IN  THE  INTEREST  OF  ALL  THE  PEOPLE. 

Every  special  privilege  to  be  abolished, 
Every  law  to  be  alike  equal  to  all. 
Close  the  bottomless  pit  of  Contraction. 
"Ruin  its  mission,  hell  its  home." 
"Death  on  the  pale  horse" — 
Enacted  into  law! 


2io  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

Abolish  the  debt  Moloch, 

"A  contrivance  against  divine  law  and  human  reason." 

Abolish  the  "bank  of  issue" — 

Demon. 

"It  coins  the  sweat  of  labor  into  gold — for  Tyrants." 

To  shrink  the  volume  and  leave  the  debt  is  Robbery. 

In  doing  it  the  government  makes  itself  the  Comple- 
ment of 

Perdition. 

Abolish  the  policy  of  greed. 

On  it  stands  Church  and  State  shouting:  "It  is  God's 
time." 

This  tabernacle  of  Mammon  is  built  on; 

The  non-right  of  money, 

The  non-right  of  transportation, 

And  the  wrong  use  of  the 

Public  Domain. 

The  record  of  the  past  must  be  changed. 

The  land  stolen  by  the  despot, 

The  carrying  done  by  the  syndicate. 

And  the  money  of  the  triumphant  plutocrat — 

Must  all  be  restored  to  the  people. 

These  children  of  greed  have  made  the  world  a  "re- 
gion of  despair." 

Egypt,  Babylon,  Persia,  Greece  and  Rome. 

All  traveled  this  road  to  death. 

The  march  of  civilization  began  in  Egypt;  died  in 
Rome. 

"Life  unbearable,  no  hope." 

Stop   modern   God-robbing — Robbing  his   children. 

William  the  Conqueror  stole  England. 

His  descendants  are  stealing  the  world. 

The  Republic  condones  the  crime  and  aids  the  lar- 
ceny. 

Stop  framing  iniquity  into  law. 

Stop  the  infamy  of  redeeming  one  "money"  with 
another  "money." 

Stop  swapping  "dollars." 

A  duplicate  of  selling  Christ  for  silver. 

Stop  this  piratical  cry,  "Capital"  controlling  "Labor." 

It  murders  liberty! 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  211 

Stop  this  slander  against   God — "overproduction"; 

When  millions  are  starving; 

And  our  cities  a  lazzaroni. 

Stop  tempting  men  to  crime — 

When  punishing  them  for  the  act. 

Labor  is  prior  to  Capital  and  shall  rule. 

Capital  is  the  fruit  of  Labor  and  shall  serve. 

LAND   AND    HOME. 

1.  The  human  race  have  Almighty  endowment  in  the 
earth,  by  title  indefeasable  and   inalienable. 

2.  Each  one  is  entitled  to  a  home,  indefeasable  and 
inalienable. 

3.  Government  is  a  divine  appointment,  with  func- 
tions to  carry   out  these  endowments: 

a.  Limited  homestead  to  the  point  of  necessity. 

b.  Exempt    homesteads     from    all    taxes,  liens  and 
charges,  whatever. 

c.  The  government  to  hold  all  unoccupied  land  for 
homes  only. 

d.  Homes  to  be  acquired  at  the  minimum  cost  of  al- 
lotting them. 

e.  Each  to  acquire  homes  on  the  same  terms — neces- 
sary quantity. 

Then  the  earth  shall  be  a  peaceful  habitation. 

These  are  great  statutes  of  justice  and  decrees  of 
equity. 

Land  grants  to  corporations  are  in  violation  of  them, 
as  well  as  of  the  Divine  law. 

They  centralize  the  land  and  destroy  homes. 

They  divert  the  title, 

They  create  monopoly, 

They  tend  to  a  landed  gentry, 

They  foster  aristocracy, 

They  burden  the  family — 

And  ripen  the  world  for  destruction. 

We  affirm : 

1.  The  family  is  a  sacred  institution; 

2.  The  house  is  the  "castle"  of  this  God-endowed 
relation. 


212  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

From  it  we  correlate: 

Homes  free, 

Homes  indefeasible, 

Homes  inalienable. 

On  these  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people  and 
for  the  people  can  be  maintained. 

Every  empire  of  the  past  reached  its  highest  estate 
when  most  in  accord  with  these  views, 

And  declined  as  they  parted  from  them. 

Their  total  abandonment  brought  death. 


HOW    ACCOMPLISHED. 

Take  back  all  the  lands  granted,  making  an  equitable 
settlement  in  regard  to  them. 

Then  hold  them  for  homes  exclusively,  to  be  ready 
when  needed. 

And  not  to  pass  from  the  public  domain — 

Except  for  homes,  to  be  determined  as  to  amount — 
by  use  and  occupancy,  according  to  the  needs  of  the 
family. 

This  applies  to  cultivated  lands  and  not  to  the  city 
holdings. 

That  not  needed  for  use  to  be  held  by  the  govern- 
ment 

As  Public  Domain. 

While  thus  situate,  if  any  wish  to  use  it  for  the  grasses, 
or  any  other  appendage,  so  as  not  to  injure  it,  let  them 
use  it,  paying  a  stipulated  price,  the  money  to  go  into  the 
public  treasury  for  the  benefit  of  all. 

To  incline  those  holding  large  grants  to  surrender 
them  to  the  people,  to  again  become  public  domain,  tax 
them  double  the  value  of  land  used  for  homes. 

Make  it  impossible  to  hold  land  for  speculative  pur- 
poses. 

Statutes  of  justice  and  decrees  of  equity  will  not  tol- 
erate 

Land  speculation  of  cultivatable  soil  that  is  rural. 

This  policy  would  decentralize  land,  increase  homes 
and  diffuse  happiness. 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  213 

A  non-resident  alien  should  not  own  land  in  this  coun- 
try. Land  should  not  have  been  sold  to  them. 

Change  the  rule. 

Give  them  reasonable  notice  to  sell  their  lands. 

If  they  refuse,  then  the  government  shall  pay  them 
a  reasonable  price  for  their  lands  and  turn  them  into 
the  public  domain. 

All  of  them  to  be  public  domain  except  the  lands  oc- 
cupied as  homes. 

A  graduated  income  tax,  beginning  above  one  thou- 
sand dollars. 

Inaugurate  and  encourage  a  policy  to  enable  each  fam- 
ily to  secure  a  home  — 

Actual  occupancy  and  use  to  be  the  title, 

Paying  for  it  only  the  cost  of  setting  it  off  from  the 
public  domain. 

Exempt  such  home  of  the  family  from  all  taxation 
and  liens  of  any  sort 

To  the  amount  of  one  thousand  dollars. 

Natural  gifts  in  the  earth  common  to  the  race,  bene- 
ficial to  all  men,  to  be  under  the  control  of  the  govern- 
ment and  open  to  all — for  the  benefit  of  all  the  people. 

RAILROADS. 

All  railroad  charters  should  be  repealed, 

And  the  roads  valued  and  operated  by  the  government 
as  the  Railroad  Department,  the  same  as  any  other  of 
the  departments ; 

Allowing  the  owners  now,  to  retain  five-eighths  of 
their  value,  as  an  investment, 

Paying  them  out  of  the  earnings  three  per  cent  per 
annum,  till  final  liquidation  and  full  ownership  by  the 
people. 

The  roads  to  be  run  at  cost  of  operating. 

That  is,  a  schedule  of  prices  to  be  paid  by  the  people 
for  the  use  they  require; 

Sufficient  in  amount  to  pay  the  interest,  while  needed; 
sinking  fund  and  running  expenses. 

This  would  be  about  three  mills  a  ton  a  mile  for  freight, 
and  one  cent  a  mile  passenger  fare. 


214  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

While  now  it  is  fourteen  mills  a  ton  and  three  cents 
for  fare. 

Nearly  four  times  what  it  is  in  proportions  of  other 
civilized  countries — as  Belgium,  Hesse  Cassel,  etc. 

The  settlement  should  be  made  with  the  present  own- 
ers on  a  liberal  basis,  as  they  have  acted  in  pursuance 
of  law. 

Give  them  three  per  cent  on  what  they  have  put  in 
and  deduct  what  they  have  received,  charging  them  three 
per  cent  on  it,  and  reach  an  equitable  adjustment  be- 
tween the  outgoing  and  the  incoming  management. 

Land  grants  would  be  determined  and  adjusted  un- 
der the  rules  before  described. 

Thus  this  great  national  necessity  would  change  from 
corporate  control  to  government — to  an  almost  infinite 
advantage  to  the  business  of  the  country,  in  its  vast  vol- 
ume and  to  the  people  in  their  convenience  of  travel, 
at  so  reduced  a  rate. 

Other  countries  have  tried  it  and  it  has  been  found 
safer  and  cheaper. 

MONEY. 

The  issuance  of  money  is  a  requisite  of  sovereignty. 

It  can  be  coined,  made  of  any  material  the  government 
issuing  it  may  select. 

The  legal  question  in  the  United  States  has  been  set- 
tled by  the  Court! 

"As  the  act  of  February  25,  1862,  declares  that  the 
notes  of  the  United  States  shall  also  be  lawful  money 
and  legal  tender  in  payment  of  debts,  and  that  act  has 
been  sustained  by  the  recent  decisions  of  this  Court  as 
valid  and  constitutional,  we  according  to  this  decision 
have  two  kinds  of  money,  essentially  different  in  their 
nature,  but  equally  lawful." 

Here  the  Court  of  the  United  States  puts  metal  and 
paper  money  on  the  same  constitutional  ground,  both 
lawful  and  constitutional. 

In  a  later  case,  the  last  one  before  the  Court,  they  are 
equally  clear. 

The  case  of  Sullivan  vs.  Greenman,  in  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States,  March  3,  1884,  the  question 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  215 

at  bar  was,  the  Constitutionality  of  the  Act  of  Congress 
of  May  31,  1878. 

"Congress  has  the  Constitutional  power  to  make  the 
treasury  notes  of  the  United  States  a  legal  tender  in  the 
payment  of  private  debts  in  time  of  peace  as  well  as  in 
time  of  war." 

The  Court  says:  "The  single  question,  therefore,  to 
be  considered,  and  upon  the  answer  to  which  the  judg- 
ment to  be  rendered  between  the  parties  depends,  is, 
whether  notes  of  the  United  States  issued  in  time  of 
war,  under  Acts  of  Congress  declaring  them  to  be  a 
legal  tender  in  payment  of  private  debts,  and  after- 
wards in  time  of  peace  redeemed  and  paid  in  gold  coin 
at  the  treasury  and  then  reissued  under  the  Act  of 
1878,  can,  under  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
be  a  legal  tender  of  such  debts." 

"Upon  full  consideration  of  the  case,  the  Court  is  of 
opinion  that  they  can." 

"We  are  irresistibly  impelled  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  impressing  upon  the  treasury  notes  of  the  United 
States  the  quality  of  legal  tender  in  payment  of  private 
debts,  is  an  appropriate  means,  and  is  plainly  adapted 
to  the  execution  of  the  undelegated  powers  of  Congress, 
consistent  with  the  letter  and  spirit  of  the  Constitution." 

"Congress  is  authorized  to  establish  a  national  cur- 
rency— either  in  coin  or  in  paper — and  to  make  that  cur- 
rency legal  money  for  all  purposes,  as  regards  the  na- 
tional government  or  private  individuals." 

"It  follows  that  the  Act  of  May  31,  1878,  is  constitu- 
tional, that  the  tender  in  treasury  notes,  reissued  and 
kept  in  circulation  under  the  act,  was  a  tender  of  lawful 
money  in  payment  of  the  debt." 

This  settled  the  question  that  the  government  can 
make  lawful  money  out  of  PAPER. 

"The  question  whether  at  any  particular  time,  in  war 
or  in  peace,  is  a  political  question  to  be  determined  by 
Congress,  when  the  question,  exigency  arises,  and  not  a 
judicial  question  to  be  afterward  passed  upon  by  the 
Courts." 


216  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 


MONEY — ISSUANCE    AND    MATERIAL. 

The  money  should  all  be  issued  by  the  government 
and  made  full  legal  tender  for  all  purposes.  It  should 
be  sufficient  in  amount  to  do  the  business  of  the  country 
without  the  intervention  of  credit — on  cash. 

It  should  be  stamped  on  material  of  the  least  com- 
mercial value,  consistent  with  fair  durability — on  paper. 

It  should  be  furnished  at  the  cost  of  making  and  issu- 
ing. It  should  be  redeemable  in  labor  and  commodi- 
ties only,  thus  making  its  use  among  the  people  per- 
petual. It  should  be  ample  in  volume  for  the  maximum 
of  business,  some  of  it  resting  when  business  drops  to 
the  minimum.  It  should  be  put  into  circulation  through 
national  depositories,  situate  at  the  seat  of  government, 
the  state  capitals  and  the  county  seats.  In  detail,  it 
should  be  secured  by  land  and  products,  returnable  at 
any  time  by  the  holder  to  the  depository.  The  rate  for 
the  use,  one  per  cent  to  the  nation,  one  to  the  state  and 
one  to  the  county,  paid  out  of  the  taxes,  (or  less  if  that 
rate  is  above  the  cost  of  getting  it  to  the  people)  the 
United  States  treasurer,  the  state  treasurer,  and  the  coun- 
ty treasurer,  to  be  the  disbursing  officers. 

The  state  drawing  from  the  national  depository  and 
the  counties  drawing  from  the  state  depository  amounts 
equal  to  the  demands  of  the  people. 

The  states  being  responsible  to  the  general  govern- 
ment, and  the  counties  to  the  state  government,  for  the 
money  they  receive. 

The  citizen,  to  draw  from  the  depository,  in  his 
jurisdiction,  for  one  year — but  returnable  at  any  time — 
an  amount  equal  to  25  per  cent  of  the  assessed  value 
of  his  wool,  wheat,  corn  and  cotton  crop,  the  four  great 
staples.  The  lien  to  return  the  money  to  be  the  same 
that  attaches  for  the  payment  of  taxes. 

The  products  thus  pledged  to  be  kept  in  the  store- 
houses connected  with  the  "rail  and  water  carrying  de- 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  217 

partment,"  till  needed  for  consumption.  The  drawer 
of  money  can  only  use  one  of  the  four  pledges  at  the 
same  time.  The  right  is  reserved  to  him  to  draw  25 
per  cent  of  the  assessed  value  of  his  land,  if  he  has  not 
used  either  of  the  product  pledges. 

This  system  of  issuance,  shown  by  the  price  of  these 
four  staples,  for  a  series  of  ten  years,  will  furnish  $60 
per  capita,  circulating  among  the  people,  enabling  each 
member  of  the  society  to  part  with  that  which  he  has  a 
surplus  of  and  obtaining  that  which  he  lacks  a  sufficiency 
of,  resulting  at  last  in  the  actual  ownership  of  homes — 
in  real  estate  unincumbered — the  products  used  as  a 
pledge  being  ample  to  keep  the  money  floating  to  do  all 
the  business  for  cash. 

OF    KNOWLEDGE    AND    ITS    DIFFUSION. 

The  telegraph  and  telephone  should  be  attached  to  the 
postoffice  department  and  conducted  by  it. 

Those  who  use  them  paying  for  use  the  amount  neces- 
sary to  secure  revenue  sufficient,  and  no  more,  for  ex- 
penses of  operating. 

Society,  in  protecting  itself  against  the  vicious,  which 
it  has  a  right  to  do,  should  restrain  them. 

To  prevent  their  injury  to  the  obedient,  but  not  vin- 
dictively. 

Punishment  does  not  prevent  crime. 

Make  rules  reformatory  and  not  based  on  vengeance. 

As  burdens  increase  and  the  conditions  of  life  are 
made  harder,  men  debauch  themselves,  and  crime  in- 
creases. 

As  burdens  grow  lighter  and  hopes  brighten,  men  grow 
better  and  crime  decreases. 

Educate  to  change  men  by  motive,  not  by  force. 

Do  right  as  a  government  and  men  will  do  right,  close 
on  to  perfection. 

Equalize  burdens. 

Taxation,  instead  of  being  on  the  wealth  we  have,  is 
to  come  from  the  wealth  we  are  striving  to  acquire. 

This  system  gives  rise  to  the  fearful  scourge — debt; 
a  thing  that  should  not  exist. 


218  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

Association,  not  isolation. 

Men  must  exist,  hence  "association  is  a  law  of  life.'' 
Government  is  but  the  agent  of  the  people. 
Society,  in  its  full  sense,  is  the  human  race. 
As  the  earth  is  divine,  so  is  man. 

Each  nation  is  bound  to  do  the  best  it  can  for  its  own 
people,  with  the  least  injury  to  others. 

EQUIVALENCY    OF    EXCHANGE. 

That  which  you  cannot  produce  at  all,  get  of  those 
who  do,  on  terms  as  advantageous  as  possible  to  both. 

That  which  you  have  the  greatest  surplus  of,  get  off 
on  terms  of  like  character. 

Having  .thus  reciprocated,  in  the  two  extremes — where 
you  had  all  and  where  you  had  nothing — the  inside  will 
adjust  to  these  outside  lines. 

The  nations  over  against  you  do  the  same  thing,  and 
thus  the  world  fraternizes. 

These  peaceful  regulations  go  on  till  arbitration  takes 
the  place  of  force,  and  earth  becomes  an  empire  of  peace. 

Here  is  broad  ground,  to  which  the  humanities  in  every 
nation  are  looking — 

And  the  grandest  names  of  earth  are  bending  their 
energies  to  effect  the  blessed  state — a  world  disarmed! 

Arbitration  the  law  of  nations,  instead  of  the  law  of 
force. 

The  world  thus  regulated; 

Society  thus  harmonized;  would  at  last  blend  in  UNI- 
VERSAL BROTHERHOOD. 

J.  HARPER. 

By  the  one  act  of  forcing  a  gold  standard,  it  has 
doubled  its  income.  It  has  the  seats  of  learning  in  its 
mesh,  and  makes  them  the  recruiting  stations  in  which 
to  grow  a  class  "to  shape  the  laws."  The  Church,  too — 
the  nominal,  not  the  real — the  highest  organization  among 
men,  is  lukewarm.  It  "promises  high,"  but  "works  low." 

Chicago,  as  shown  from  the  "Blue  Book" — "There  are 
about  2,000  club  organizations,  5,000  saloons  and  400 
churches."  Then  the  "Press"  and  "Forum"  spreads  a 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  219 

virus  that  at  last  has  spawned  the  "imps  of  the  universe." 
— Sansi. 

"Death  on  the  pale  horse  and  hell  following  him." 

Laws  are  framed  to  centralize  wealth  in  the  hands  of 
the  few,  and  to  rob  the  many  to  destitution  and  death. 

Greed  sits  in  the  market  place  and,  by  law,  "divides 
the  spoils."  Law,  secured  by  bribes  that  make  the  ac- 
tors traitors  to  humanity.  Greed  ("business"  is  his  high- 
sounding  name  on  "'Change,")  given  him  by  this  en- 
lightened age — 

An  age  where  the  main  "operation"  with  Greed  presid- 
ing, is  to  double  the  debts  to  the  creditor  and  rob  the 
debtor — 

By  contracting  the  volume  of  money. 

Here  is  the  "scales"  by  which  he  divides  the  products 
of  labor.  Heaping  the  wealth  produced  by  all  into  one 
hundred  dollar  piles,  and  the  people  into  lots  of  three 
hundred ;  then,  with  his  legal  wand,  "Let  one  of  the  400 
people  take  $70  of  the  $100,  and  the  299  people  take 
the  remaining  $30." 

About  ten  cents  to  each  person. 

And  this  is  called  Christian  civilization,  with  rulers 
over  the  governments,  that  duplicate  Pharaoh  and  Herod, 
in  decreeing  the  murder  of  children. 

God  said  "Let  light  be." 

Let  the  paper  money  party  renew  its  fight — 

For  the  money  of  the  future ; 

The  money  of  a  true  civilization ; 

Money  enough  to  do  the  business ; 

And  wipe  credit  from  the  face  of  the  earth. 

The  "silver"  question  is  an  incidental  one,  for,  if  it 
succeeds,  it  is  not  a  remedy.  It  is  a  mere  palliative 
against  a  gold  standard,  not  a  cure.  Both  metals  com- 
bined are  not  a  remedy  for  the  world's  financial  trouble. 
Paper  is  the  remedial  measure. 

Let  a  conference  of  nations  meet  to  agree  upon  this 
system,  that  can  be  accomplished — a  paper  money  sys- 
tem. But  without  them  we  can  make  our  own  money — 
paper  money. 

We  are  independent  of  them. 

Metal  money,  to  pay  "balances,"  is  a  fraud,  a  LIE. 


\ 

« 


22O  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

It  does  not  pay — it  is  only  an  "order"  for  pay;  so  can 
paper  be  an  "order." 

The  "balance"  between  parties  carrying  on  interna- 
tional trade  and  commerce,  is  not  paid  in  money — no 
matter  of  what  material  the  money  is  made. 

The  money  is  the  "order"  held  till  the  product,  wealth, 
in  transit  from  one  country  to  another,  reaches  the  place 
and  the  party  to  whom  the  "balance"  is  due,  and  dis- 
charges it. 

"Equivalent  in  product,  wealth,  can  only  discharge  the 
obligation." — Fillmore. 

To  attempt  the  settlement  of  internationl  "balances," 
in  this  unequaled  age  of  trade  and  commerce,  with  a  little 
"nugget  of  gold  and  a  little  pig  of  silver" — to  say  noth- 
ing of  the  fifty  billion  of  domestic  trade — is  a  folly,  a 
sin,  that  only  metal  money  men,  blinded  by  the  love  of 
unfair  gain,  ever  think  of. 

Let  the  world  fraternize  on  a  basis  practical — on  pa- 
per "orders,"  instead  of  metal  "orders" ; 

For  that  is  what  "money"  is,  in  these  "balances." 

It  never  can,  on  gold  and  silver  "orders,"  fraternize. 

To  attempt  it  on  both  these  idols  of  the  past  is  to  bring 
periodical  bankruptcy. 

And  to  attempt  it  on  gold  alone,  is  to  bring  universal 
repudiation  of  the  deadly  burden  of  debt  now  upon  the 
world. 

This  struggle  is  for  a  higher  individual  and  national 
life. 

Heed  its  warnings. 

Be  prompt,  for  a  Cataclysm  of  Ruin,  more  destructive 
than  the  flood,  is  now  pending. 

J.  HARPER. 


WHAT  THE  GOLD  CONSPIRATORS  WANT. 

These  conspirators  to  make  gold  the  only  legal  money 
do  not  want  the  present  prosperity  to  continue.  They 
want  a  money  famine ;  they  want  the  legal  money  to  be 
dear  money;  they  want  another  slaughter  and  sacrifice 
of  property ;  they  want  confidences  destroyed,  rates  of 
interest  increased,  and  they  want  that  ruin  which  re- 
sults in  the  transfer  of  the  property  of  the  many  to  the 
possession  of  the  few.  This  conspiracy  against  green- 
backs and  silver  as  money,  this  conspiracy  to  establish 
gold  as  the  exclusive  debt  paying  money,  is  a  conspiracy 
against  the  welfare  of  the  country,  and  this  conspiracy 
cannot  be  hidden  under  the  specious  falsehoods  which 
make  up  this  mendacious  petition  to  destroy  the  legal 
tender  power  of  the  greenback. — Chicago  Tribune. 

The  above  was  printed  in  the  Chicago  Tribune  early 
in  1880.  The  "Fillosefer"  Joseph,  at  the  time  of  penning 
it,  was  enjoying  a  lucid  interval,  hence  he  wrote  the 
truth. 

If  that  had  come  from  a  Greenback  journal — as  many 
just  such  had  before — it  would  have  been  vilified  as  the 
blatherskiting  of  a  fiat  lunatic. 

We  suppose  they  had  got  the  Tribune  in  a  financial 
corner,  so  it  went  for  the  "conspirators." 

By  the  way,  who  are  these  "conspirators,"  Mr. 
Tribune?  We  say  to  you  in  a  Christian  way,  that  the 
Tribune  is  acting  with  and  supporting  the  party — the 
Republican — which  has  the  "gold  conspirators"  as  its 
chief  leaders. 

Mr.  Garfield  is  a  "gold  conspirator."  From  his  place 
in  the  House,  as  reported  in  the  Congressional  Record, 
when  speaking  of  the  act  of  the  i8th  of  March,  1869,  the 
act  to  strengthen  the  public  credit,  as  it  is  called,  and 
telling  how  the  5.20  bonds  were  to  be  paid  said :  "The 


222  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

faith  of  the  United  States  is  solemnly  pledged  to  the 
payment."  *  * 

"And  when  Congress  promised  to  pay  in  coin,  it  was 
a  promise  in  GOLD  coin." 

Thus  we  have  the  president-elect,  less  than  two  years 
before  he  was  nominated  for  president,  declaring  that  the 
bonds  were  payable  in  gold.  He  is,  therefore,  a  "gold 
conspirator." 

John  Sherman  said  in  1878,  "I  say  the  United  States 
bonds  must  be  paid  in  gold."  He,  too,  is  a  "gold  con- 
spirator." 

The  Tribune  co-operates  with,  and  sings  Hosannahs 
to  the  Republican  party  and  its  policies,  and  did  all  within 
its  limited  ability  to  elect  the  "gold  conspirator,"  Mr. 
Garfield,  to  the  presidency.  Here  is  consistency,  and  con- 
sistency is  a  jewel,  you  know. — J.  Harper. 


EDITORIAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 

BISMARCK  GROVE,  Aug.  i,  1881. 

J.  T.  Mathers :  Here  we  are  in  the  midst  of  a  mighty 
throng  of  colored  people.  It  is  the  celebration  of  British 
emancipation  in  the  West  Indies,  and  the  negro  men 
and  women  of  Kansas  are  holding  high  jubilee,  and  the 
senior  is  taking  in  the  situation.  I  am  to  speak  to  them 
this  afternoon  and  give  them  the  views  of  the  Green- 
backers  on  the  situation  and  outlook  of  the  colored  man 
after  which  we  will  lay  before  the  readers  of  the  Advo- 
cate the  day's  work  at  this  historic  grove  near  the  historic 
city  of  Lawrence. 

Well,  here  it  is  late  at  night,  and  the  dim  flicker  of  the 
lights  signify  that  the  last  of  the  hilarious  throng  of 
celebrators  have  betaken  themselves  to  the  couch  and 
the  revelry  of  the  day  is  over. 

It  was  a  day  long  to  be  remembered  by  the  men  and 
women  who  claim  Abraham  Lincoln  as  their  "blessed 
liberator,"  as  they  call  him. 

Bismarck  Grove  all  day  long  was  resonant  with  the 
song  of  praise  and  gladness  swelling  from  the  full  heart 
of  an  infranchised  race. 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  223 

The  forenoon  was  taken  up  with  the  regular  exercises 
of  speech  making  and  general  work,  and  then  the  dinner, 
which  was  a  most  tempting  affair.  * 

At  the  reassembling,  at  2  p.  m.,  the  most  interesting  part 
of  the  program  began — speaking  by  invited  guests  and 
persons  of  note. 

The  fast-becoming  noted  Jesse  Thompson,  of  South 
Bend,  Ind.,  made  a  speech  that  electrified  the  great  au- 
dience and  carried  everything  before  it.  The  ex-slave 
was  master  of  his  subject  and  proved  that  bondage  for 
two  hundred  years  of  a  race  will  not  crush  out  the  man- 
hood which  God  implanted.  It  was  a  grand  effort,  and 
more  than  one  heart  beat  as  towards  the  verge  of  burst- 
ing as  the  burning  eloquence  of  the  noble  black  man 
swelled  out  from  his  true  heart  and  big  intellect. 

General  Weaver  did  his  best,  too,  on  that  occasion. 
Short,  but  it  rang  like  the  bugle  of  Rhoderick  Dhu 
among  his  clans. 

The  senior  of  the  Advocate,  as  an  old  time  "Aboli- 
tionist" and  "nigger  worshiper,"  was  introduced  and 
for  a  while  the  uproar  was  too  intense  for  reporters  or 
anybody  else  to  do  anything  but  shout.  Of  his  speech  on 
that  occasion  we  leave  it  for  others  to  speak.  This  much 
it  will  suffice  to  say  that  the  colored  people  said,  as  one 
old  mother  put  it,  "If  dat  ain't  old  blessed  Abraham  him- 
self den  it  is  his  spirit  come  to  Bismarck  for  dis  precious 
occasion.  But  I  know  it's  Abraham,  for  my  soul  is  full." 

Yes,  the  colored  people  went  into  ecstacies  and  we 
went  in  on  our  high  horse,  and  during  the  time  of  the 
delivery  the  Republicans  outside  of  the  amphitheatre 
were  sentimentally  "  cussin'  "  that  "  Abolition  gang." 

Well,  the  day  will  never  be  forgotten  by  either  whites 
or  blacks.  It  was  a  field  day.  The  sorrows  of  ten  gen- 
erations were  depicted.  The  horrors  of  slavery  in  the 
Antilles,  the  more  than  horrors  of  the  "middle  passage" 
were  set  forth  in  language  that  burned  down  into  the 
souls  of  men. 

Slavery  in  the  West  Indies  was  laid  before  the  eye, 
and  the  dying  out  of  hope  of  a  whole  race,  because  of 
bondage,  was  depicted  in  language  never  to  be  forgotten. 


224  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

The  fearful  wrong  of  oppression  was  made  plain  to  all. 
It  was  shown  that  no  civilization  could  long  survive 
the  robbery  of  the  masses,  and  that  Spanish  nationality 
in  her  colonies  must  die  if  she  did  not  mend  her  ways. 

Then  the  sequel  to  oppression — that  is,  slave  oppres- 
sion— was  shown,  namely,  that  serfdom  in  all  the  world 
was  rising  to  fill  the  vacancy  left  by  chattel  slavery,  and 
this  last  condition  of  mankind  would  prove  infinitely 
worse  than  the  former.  That  wage  serfdom  is  and  al- 
ways has  been  worse  for  the  workers — as  to  the  amount 
of  toil —  than  chattel  slavery. 

That  in  one  case  some  of  the  patriarchal  still  re- 
mains, in  the  other  it  is  Bedouinism,  which  is  capital 
dictating  all  terms  and  labor  acquiescing  in  this  self-con- 
stituted tyranny.  This  is  the  situation  to-day.  This  is 
the  peril  of  the  hour.  And  the  colored  men  of  the  coun- 
try are  just  rising  from  their  torpor  and  begin  to  realize 
the  true  status. 

It  is  a  hopeful  sign,  the  rising  of  the  colored  people 
to  the  danger. 

We  had  so  much  to  do  in  keeping  up  correspondence, 
editorial  matter  and  talking  to  the  thousands  that  we 
could  not  gather  half  the  incidents  that  were  constantly 
occurring  and  that  should  be  recorded.  Others,  we  doubt 
not,  will  chronicle  the  "incidents."  There  were  dis- 
tinguished men  of  Kansas  who  "dropped  into  the  grove 
to  see  how  the  babe  was  thriving,"  as  Judge  Bailey  put 
it. 

Fellows  who  are  really  Greenback  men,  but  are  afraid 
of  the  "Scribes  and  Pharisees."  So  they,  like  Nico- 
demus,  "go  down  in  the  night"  to  see  Christ.  Bah,  for 
fools  and  cowards. 

Judge  Bailey  is  one  of  the  truest  men  in  Kansas.  He 
was  an  Abolitionist,  then  a  Republican,  when  the  words 
"bleeding  Kansas"  meant  he  who  stood  for  Kansas  must 
be  willing  to  bleed  for  and  even  die  for  Kansas. 

Such  a  man  was  Judge  Bailey,  and  now  he  is  with  the 
people,  seeing  in  modern  politics,  as  administered  by  the 
Republicans  aided  by  the  Democrats,  the  same  old  spirit 
of  tyranny  made  Kansas  bleed,  and  at  last  baptized  the 
whole  land  in  blood. 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  225 

Hence,  being  for  the  people,  he  goes  with  the  party 
that  is  for  the  people — the  National  Greenback  La- 
bor party.  Greeting  and  thanks  to  you,  Judge  Bailey. 

Governor  Robinson,  the  first  governor  of  Kansas,  is 
another  man  who  sees  the  trouble  now  upon  the  coun- 
try, and  from  a  Republican  of  the  Republicans,  becomes 
a  Greenbacker.  Why?  it  is  asked.  Because,  as  he  says, 
"the  Republicans  of  to-day  are  no  more  the  Republicans 
that  I  stood  for  with  my  life  in  my  hand  in  '56  and  '60 
and  through  the  war  than  is  slavery  like  liberty."  So 
he,  too,  is  a  Greenbacker.  Greenbackism  means  the 
rights  of  the  people.  Modern  Republicanism  and  modern 
Democratism  means  the  rights  of  class,  and  a  small 
class,  too."  Thus  speaks  the  man  who  was  the  first  gov- 
ernor of  the  state  of  Kansas. 

On  the  night  of  the  2d  of  August  the  clans  left  the 
grove  and  encamped  upon  the  classic  and  historic  streets 
of  Lawrence.  Massachusetts  avenue  was  the  street  se- 
lected and  the  front  of  the  "Exchange  House"  the  spot. 

This  famous  hotel  is  the  fourth  in  number  built  on  the 
same  spot,  within  a  quarter  of  a  century.  So,  with  the 
consent  of  the  proprietor — and,  by  the  way,  he  is  a  hotel 
keeper  that  knows  just  how  to  make  men  feel  happy — 
he  had  the  box  fixed  right  in  the  front  of  the  broad  hall, 
the  entrance  to  the  hotel,  and  said  "free  speech"  is  the 
religion  of  the  Eldridge  House.  Go  on,  gentlemen.  I 
believe  in  the  Christian  religion  and  uphold  it  with  my 
best  powers,  but  if  Bob  Ingersoll  wants  to  assail  it  from 
a  box  in  front  of  the  Eldridge  I  will  furnish  the  box. 
A  religion  that  Bob  can  overthow  is  a  poor  kind."  So 
this  big  hearted  man  rolled  out  the  box  for  the  Green- 
backers  and  they  mounted  it.  A  word  of  reminiscence 
The  ground  on  which  the  "Eldridge"  now  stands  was  the 
first  covered  by  the  "Free  State  Hotel,"  and  which  was 
burned  by  the  "Border  Ruffins"  at  the  time  Lawrence 
was  first  burned.  That  was  a  large  wooden  building. 

Then  followed  a  building  in  stone,  a  material  peculiar 
to  Kansas.  It  was  a  large  and,  for  that  early  day,  a 
fine  and  imposing  one.  That  shortly  afterward  was  bom- 
barded by  the  Jay  Hawkers  and  destroyed  and  the  city 
again  burned. 


226  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

Then  the  pretty  "Eldridge  House"  was  erected  of 
brick.  Still  finer  and  more  imposing,  that  grand  house 
was  utterly  destroyed  and  burned  by  Quantrell,  the  rebel 
chief,  who  raided  the  town  during  the  war  with  eight 
hundred  men  just  before  daylight,  killing  over  four 
hundred  men,  women  and  children,  and  setting  with  fire 
balls  the  whole  city  on  fire  and  destroying  it. 

From  the  ruins  of  the  third  came,  and  upon  the  same 
spot  of  ground  the  present  Eldridge  House  now  stands. 
Here,  with  the  consent  of  the  proprietor,  the  Greenback- 
ers  on  the  evening  of  August  2d,  pitched  their  tents  and 
"pitched  in,"  so  to  speak. 

And  that  they  made  the  "phur  phly"  is  very  manifest 
from  the  many  complimentary  remarks  that  were  made 
about  them  by  the  Republicans  and  Democrats,  who,  in 
the  dark,  stood  round  to  gather  the  "drift  of  things," 
as  they  expressed  it  the  next  day.  And  while  thus  no- 
ticing the  "drift"  some  of  the  driftwood  struck  them  and 
and  made  them  mad. 

One  of  them  was  heard  to  say,  as  he  was  taking  "sea 
foam" — the  name  for  plain  whisky  under  the  new  con- 
stitution— "that  the  d — n  renegade  Republicans,  like  W. 
H.  and  others,  knew  so  much  of  the  record  and  could 
stir  the  past  so  hotly  that  they  had  better  be  bought  off 
if  it  cost  everything." 

And  that  is  the  way  a  man  high  in  office  talks  of  stop- 
ping the  Greenbacker,  not  by  answering  his  argument, 
but  by  buying  up  men  to  stop  the  agitation. 

Hell  would  spew  such  a  man  from  its  jaws.  Yet  such 
is  the  extreme  and  fearful  condition  to  which  the  Re- 
publican and  Democratic  leaders  have  sunk.  They  are 
willing  to  buy  the  very  livery  of  heaven  and  wear  it  in 
the  service  of  the  devil. 

Shame  on  them. — /.  Harper. 


LAND  MONOPOLY. 


EXTRACT  FROM  SPEECH  DELIVERED  AT  THE  LANSING  CAMP 

MEETING. 


BY   JESSE    HARPER,    OF   DANVILLE,    ILLINOIS. 


Troubles  are  as  widespread  as  civilization.  The  dis- 
ease which  affects  your  material  interests,  your  political 
life,  your  moral  ideas,  is  the  same  disease  now  working 
its  certain  ruin  in  all  Christendom. 

Look  where  you  will  and  you  see  the  Scripture  warn- 
ing, "evil  shall  go  forth  from  nation  to  nation,"  ful- 
filling. In  every  land  unrest  is  manifest.  Those  un- 
clean spirits,  like  frogs,  have  gone  forth  and  entered 
the  kings  of  the  earth  to  gather  them  to  the  battle. 

Russia  totters  and  rests  insecure  in  her  ice-bound 
nest.  "Death  to  tyrants"  meets  you,  blazing  in  fury 
everywhere. 

The  strongest  government  on  earth  has  no  strength 
against  its  mystic  foe.  The  assassin's  knife  and  bullet 
is  being  dyed  in  blood.  Liberty,  long  trodden  beneath 
the  iron  heel  of  despotism,  is  rising  and  its  pent-up  fury 
develops  into  scenes  appalling  to  those  who  love  peace. 

Continental  Europe  seethes  and  boils  like  a  caldron. 
The  deadly  hemlock  of  decaying  autocracy  is  witnessing 
in  every  house  from  the  kings  down  to  the  purlieus  of 
the  lazzaroni. 

And  Western  Europe,  the  land  of  boasted  constitution- 
al government,  reels  and  swaggers  like  a  drunken  man. 
The  old  is  preparing  to  give  place  to  the  new.  The 
regenesis  is  dawning.  The  blazing  edge  of  the  coming 
baptism  of  fire  is  seen  as  it  flashes  through  the  corrup- 
tions of  effete  society.  From  Archangel  to  Lands  End ; 
from  the  ice  glaciers  of  the  north  to  the  Bosphorus  and 
Dardanelles, 

227 


228  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

"Over  Europe  hangs     , 
Attila's  curse  again." 

Cross  over  to  the  empire  of  the  setting  sun,  the  repub- 
lic of  the  world,  and  here,  like  the  fabled  Atlantas,  "there 
lurks  a  song  of  death." 

That  there  are  intensified  troubles,  such  as  have  always 
forerun  the  dying  out  and  renewal  of  civilization,  we 
have  only  to  cite  sickening  pages  of  detail  to  prove. 

Contrast  two  periods  of  our  history,  two  epoch  years, 
the  like  of  which  has  not  been  in  the  past,  nor  will  their 
equal  come  to  us  in  the  future.  The  years  1866  and  1878 
will  stand  in  our  records  as  monumental.  They  were  to 
us  king  of  the  good,  king  of  the  beyond. 

The  former  brought  us  to  the  year  of  peace,  after  the 
baptism  of  blood.  The  other  carried  us  down  to  the 
money  system  of  barbarism  and  death. 

The  year  1866  was  the  first  after  the  war  for  the  rights 
of  men,  the  rights  of  labor. 

The  year  1878  landed  us  upon  the  barren  rock,  "specie 
payment."  At  the  end  of  that  year  we  reached  the  un- 
holy system  of  fraud  and  robbery.  The  system  that  failed 
us  at  the  beginning  of  the  war.  The  system  that  has 
failed  us  fifteen  times  during  the  first  century  of  our 
National  life.  A  system  that,  in  each  of  its  failures  had 
robbed  labor  of  seventy  per  cent  of  its  earnings  and 
added  this  same  per  cent  to  the  capital  side  of  the  ledger 
of  wealth. 

The  year  1878  turned  us  over,  bound  hand  and  foot, 
into  the  hands  of  the  money  changers — into  the  deadly 
embrace  of  the  trap-door  spiders. 

The  year  1878  turned  us  over  like  sheep  to  the  slaugh- 
ter into  the  possession  of  the  Land  Monopolists.  Money 
Monopolists,  Railroad  Monopolists,  a  trinity  of  evil,  a 
triad  of  robbers,  whose  generic  name  is  the  Money 
Power,  a  Conspiracy  Against  Civilization. 

So  it  is  fair  to  contrast  as  to  troubles  the  years  named. 
And  we  will  make  the  contrast  as  to  five  things,  the  in- 
crease or  decrease  of  which  mark  the  advance  of  civili- 
zation, or  note  its  decline  to  extinction.  There  are  five 
true  indexes  of  national  life  and  death.  They  are  I, 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  229 

failures  or  successes  in  worldly  business!  2,  the  increase 
or  decrease  of  penitentiary  offenses;  3,  the  increase  or 
decrease  of  murders;  4,  the  increase  or  decrease  of 
lunacy,  and  5,  the  increase  or  decrease  of  suicide.  Look 
now  at  the  picture.  Failures  in  1866,  four  hundred  and 
forty-six.  Failures  in  business  in  1878,  thirteen  thou- 
sand eight  hundred  and  sixty-five.  Penitentiary  offenses 
1866,  one  against  twenty-seven  in  1878.  Murders  in 
1866,  one  against  twenty-three  in  1878.  Lunatics  in 
1866,  one  against  twenty-one  in  1878.  Suicides  in  1866, 
one  against  twenty-nine  in  1878. 

These  were  years  of  ruin  unsurpassed.  No  period  in 
our  history  did  the  social  evil  so  abound,  and  no  period 
in  our  history  did  the  liquor  traffic  so  increase.  No 
period  in  our  history  did  the  millionaire  rise  like  a 
hydra  and  no  period  in  our  history  did  paupers  spring 
from  the  ground  as  mushrooms  as  in  the  years  1866  to 
the  end  of  1878.  There  were  no  tramps  in  1866,  while 
in  1878  the  land  swarmed  with  them.  Essays  were 
solicited  by  philanthropies  suggesting  remedies  for  the 
scourge  of  tramps.  And  laws  were  passed  during  the 
dark  hours  on  the  problem  of  tramps  so  outrageous  that 
if  they  had  been  in  force  in  the  days  of  Christ  they  would 
have  subjected  Him  and  His  disciples  to  imprisonment 
for  carrying  the  words  of  life  to  the  perishing. 

If  we  cast  our  eye  to  Europe  we  see  eight  million  paid 
troops,  costing  eighty  per  cent  of  the  entire  expenses. 
And  yet  the  word  goes  out  that  the  government  is  not 
strong  enough. 

In  free  America,  where  the  consent  of  the  governed  is 
the  just  source  of  the  power  of  the  government,  we  are 
told  also  that  the  government  is  not  strong  enough. 

If  these  are  no  indexes  of  trouble  then  there  is  no  such 
thing  as  trouble. 

One  other  contrast:  In  1866  there  were  fewer  crimes 
committed,  according  to  the  ratio  of  people,  than  any 
year  of  our  history.  How  strange  to  some,  yet  true. 
We  were  told  that  a  dissolute  soldiery  would  endanger 
our  liberties.  That  two  million  of  men  turned  loose, 
freed  from  the  restraints  of  military  discipline,  would  fill 
the  land  with  crime. 


230  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

Not  so.  The  boys  who  faced  death  on  five  hundred 
battlefields  that  liberty  and  union  should  be  one  and 
inseparable  forever  were  not  the  men  to  swell  the  tide  of 
crime.  Men  who  had  carried  the  flag,  shotted  and 
shelled  and  baptized  in  blood,  learned  in  this  high  de- 
votion to  country  the  worth  of  union;  learned  the  price- 
less value  of  republican  institutions. 

So  when  they  came  home,  bowed  once  again  round  the 
hearthstone  and  poured  forth  their  prayer,  the  hand  of 
crime  was  staid,  the  year  1866  became  an  expiator,  jus- 
tice rested,  mercy  reigned. 

During  this  passage  of  business  death,  from  1866  to 
1878,  the  currency  was  contracted  in  volume  as  never 
before  in  so  short  a  time.  In  September,  1865,  as  shown 
by  the  Chicago  Inter  Ocean,  June  29,  1878,  the  amount 
of  paper  issued  either  by  the  banks  or  the  government, 
which  performed  the  functions  of  money,  amounted  to 
$1,996,678,770. 

And  this  is  true.  At  this  time  there  were  about  $880,- 
000,000  of  5  20  six  per  cent  bonds  which  did  not  cir- 
culate as  money.  That  which  did  circulate  and  perform 
the  functions  of  money  was  legal  tender  compound  in- 
terest notes  $217,024,160;  legal  tender  five  per  cent  notes, 
$32,536,991 ;  treasury  notes  past  due,  legal  tenders, 
$1,503,020;  7  3o's  treasury  notes,  $830,000,000,  part  of 
which  had  been  by  law  clothed  with  legal  tender  power, 
and  the  other  part  of  which,  not  so  clothed,  yet  being 
worded  on  their  face  and  back  in  the  same  general  lan- 
guage of  promise,  were  largely  used  as  money;  tem- 
porary loan  certificates,  $107,148,713;  certificates  of  in- 
debtedness, $85,093,000.  Old  State  bank  paper,  $78,- 
867,575 ;  National  bank  paper,  $185,000,000. 

By  the  time  J.  Cook  &  Co.  failed,  September,  1873, 
the  amount  had  been  contracted  $1,220,999,085.  And 
the  work  went  on  till  the  circulating  medium  had  been 
contracted  to  less  than  $700,000,000.  This  monstrous 
crime  produced  a  ruin  more  sweeping  and  wider  spread 
than  history  records  in  either  ancient  or  modern  times. 
The  change  of  property,  out  of  the  hands  of  the  many 
into  the  possession  of  the  few,  never  had  a  parallel.  More 
than  ten  thousand  million  dollars'  worth  passed  into  the 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  231 

hands  of  ten  per  cent  of  the  people  through  forced  sales, 
judgment  liens,  mortgages,  without  redemption,  trust 
deeds  and  railroad  confiscations.  And  these  new  owners 
did  not  pay  twenty-five  per  cent  of  what  the  property 
cost  the  first  owners. 

Hence  bankruptcy  was  almost  universal,  and  all  this 
simply  to  satisfy  the  insatiable  greed  of  a  few  Shylocks, 
who  fattened  on  the  confiscated  property  which  class 
laws,  authorized  and  empowered  them  to  lay  hold  on  and 
take  possession  of. 

This  great  suffering  came  upon  the  country  as  the  re- 
sult of  the  contraction  policy,  the  shrinking  of  the  vol- 
ume of  the  money,  thereby  doubling,  trebling  and  even 
quadrupling  the  debts  of  the  country,  both  public  and 
private. 

The  enormity  of  the  crime  of  shrinking  the  volume  of 
the  money  is  almost  beyond  calculation.  The  report  of 
the  Silver  Commission,  at  page  61,  says  as  to  it:  "The 
mischief  which  practically  threatens  the  world  and  which 
has  been  the  most  prolific  cause  of  the  social,  political 
and  industrial  ills  which  have  afflicted  it,  is  that  of  a  de- 
creasing and  deficient  money.  It  is  from  such  a  de- 
ficiency that  mankind  is  now  suffering,  and  it  is  the  actual 
and  present  evil. 

Through  the  infamy  of  contraction  to  resumption  and 
the  demonetization  of  silver,  gold  was  appreciated  as 
never  before  in  history  in  so  short  a  time.  The  New 
York  Public,  in  comparing  gold  with  over  eight  hundred 
articles  used  by  man,  says  "from  January,  1873,  to  No- 
vember, 1878,  gold  appreciated  thirty-four  per  cent." 

This  will  suffice  to  show  the  great  wrong  of  shrinking 
the  volume  of  the  money,  as  that  question  will  come  up 
when  we  reach  the  class  laws. 

LABOR. 

To  toil  is  the  lot  of  the  human  race.  Labor  produces 
all  wealth,  so  at  the  very  threshold  of  this  discussion 
against  monopoly,  the  rights  of  labor  should  be  thor- 
oughly understood,  and  that  they  may  be,  we  give  what 
some  of  the  greatest  men  in  history  have  said  about  it. 


232  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

Daniel  Webster  said  in  his  great  speech  in  1837:  "The 
great  interest  of  this  great  country,  the  producing  cause  of 
all  prosperity,  is  labor,  labor,  labor.  The  government  was 
made  to  protect  this  industry ;  to  give  it  both  encourage- 
ment and  security ;  to  that  very  end,  with  this  precise  ob- 
ject in  view,  power  was  given  to  Congress  over  the  cur- 
rency and  over  the  money  system  of  the  country." 

President  Lincoln  said,  in  his  second  message:  "La- 
bor is  prior  to  and  independent  of  capital.  Capital  is 
only  the  fruit  of  labor  and  could  never  have  existed  if 
labor  had  not  first  existed.  Labor  is  the  superior  and 
deserves  much  the  higher  consideration." 

Having  thus  shown,  in  brief,  the  supremacy  of  labor 
and  its  high  place  in  the  workshop  of  humanity,  let  us 
see  what  enmity  and  malice  have  done  to  lay  burdens  in 
the  way.  Let  us  see  what  obstacles  have  been  laid  in  the 
way  to  prevent  man  from  earning  his  bread  by  the  sweat 
of  his  brow. 

Land  monopoly,  money  monopoly,  creatures  of  class 
laws  have  been  the  bane  of  the  world. 

To  obtain  a  clear  view  of  this  a  glance  at  the  past  is 
necessary.  That  great  nations  have  arisen,  ruled  and 
fallen  we  know.  That  vast  empires  have  stood  up,  made 
the  earth  shake  beneath  the  goings  of  their  feet,  the 
bloody  page  of  history  fearfully  attests. 

That  the  groaning  earth  has  been  baptized  in  gore  shed 
at  the  bid  of  mad  ambition,  is  a  fact,  sad  as  any  that 
comes  to  us  from  the  past. 

That  the  tears  of  the  oppressed,  the  down  trodden 
and  dying,  at  the  hands  of  tyrants,  have  flown  till  all 
heaven  wept,  the  angels  of  the  skies  in  sorrow  affirm. 

Why  is  it  that  the  ground  has  been  crimsoned  with  the 
blood  of  the  slain?  Why  do  states  die,  empires  cease 
and  nations  vanish  out  of  sight?  Because  they  lay  bur- 
dens on  man  that  deprive  him  of  the  power  to  earn  his 
bread  by  the  sweat  of  his  brow.  They  deprive  him  of 
land ;  hence  the  first  governmental  sin  is  land  monopoly. 

The  right  to  the  soil  is  as  dear  and  as  much  an  inalien- 
able right  as  the  right  to  life.  The  depriving  of  man 
of  either  of  these  is  a  sin  against  God  and  a  crime  against 
the  life  of  man. 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  233 


EGYPT. 

Way  back  in  the  dim  distance  Egypt  had  a  name  proud 
as  any  written  on  the  escutcheon  of  the  past.  In  many 
things  she  excelled.  Building  is  the  greatest  achieve- 
ment of  man,  and  Egypt  led  all  in  the  divine  art. 

The  great  pyramid  of  Gizeh  is  the  grandest  monument 
of  human  history,  the  mightiest  building  on  earth  and  the 
oldest — in  structure  a  miracle,  in  extent  almost  incompre- 
hensible. Forty  centuries  have  looked  upon  its  glitter- 
ing sides,  and  the  tooth  of  time  during  all  these  rolling 
centuries  has  not  been  able  to  eat  away  the  grandeur  of 
the  pile.  There,  as  an  altar  unto  the  Lord,  in  the  midst 
of  Egypt,  It  stands.  Generations  of  men  have  come  and 
gone ;  nations  have  lived  and  died ;  empires  rose  and  fell, 
and  amid  all  "Cheops  Shaft,"  like  a  great  rock  in  a  weary 
land,  stands — grand,  silent,  defiant — ,  symbolized  finger 
of  Deity. 

But  what  of  Egypt?  She  is  dead.  The  song  of  her 
death  floated  on  the  air  forty  centuries  agone,  as  fleeing 
slaves  shouted : 

"O  sound  the  loud  timbrel  o'er  Egypt's  dark  seas, 
Jehovah  has  triumphed,  His  people  are  free." 

At  that  time  one  per  cent  of  the  people  owned  all  the 
land,  and  ninety-nine  per  cent  of  the  people  owned  none 
— were  tenants,  serfs  and  slaves.  Then  Egypt  died,  and 
her  death-dirge  rings  yet  in  the  ear  of  the  world. 

Diod  Sie.  1 175  says :  "The  whole  of  the  land  of  Egypt 
is  divided  up  and  apportioned  to  three  classes — (i)  to  the 
priests,  (2)  to  the  king,  (3)  to  the  soldiers — scarcely  a 
hundredth  part  to  the  people.  The  nation  likewise  dis- 
tinguished into  three  other  classes  or  orders — (i)  shep- 
herds, (2)  husbandmen  and  (3)  artificers.  These  take 
the  land  of  the  priest,  king  and  soldier  (sword  bearer) 
on  rent." 

There  is  land  monopoly  for  you;  the  king,  the  priest 


234  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

and  soldier ;  about  one  per  cent  of  the  population  are  land- 
lords, the  others  their  tenants. 


BABYLON. 

Then  came  golden  Babylon,  an  "empire  of  glory,"  and 
the  grandest  city  the  sun  ever  shone  upon,  matchless  in 
beauty  and  wondrous  in  extent;  sixty  miles  around;  bat- 
tlements three  hundred  feet  high ;  fifteen  hundred  streets 
crossing  at  right  angles,  with  swinging  gardens,  laugh- 
ing fountains  mid  enchanting  vistas.  There  towered  up 
to  the  blue  above  minaret,  shaft  and  obelisk,  and  there 
looked  down,  like  sylphs  of  the  empyrean  upon  the  She- 
mick  lake  and  aravan  walls.  Thus  Babylon  stood  trans- 
cendent in  ravishments,  the  city  of  the  globe. 

Outside  lay  the  network  of  canals,  cemented  till  water- 
tight as  urns,  extending  from  the  walls  of  the  city  to  the 
border  of  the  empire,  and  pouring  in  from  their  bosom  a 
stream  of  wealth  the  like  of  which  man  never  witnessed 
before,  and  which  has  scarce  been  equaled  since. 

At  last  this  cup  of  sin  filled  to  overflowing.  The 
haughty  ruler,  standing  upon  the  shining  battlements  mid 
a  forest  of  temples,  uttered  the  falsehood,  "Behold  great 
Babylon,  which  I  have  builded!"  forgetting  in  the  pride 
of  his  heart  the  toiling  millions,  who,  amid  scorching  sun 
rays  and  drenching  rainfall,  for  centuries  had  toiled  un- 
der the  lash  of  a  task  master  at  three  cents  a  day  till  death 
gave  them  release  in  the  city  of  the  dead. 

Then  God  blew  His  breath  upon  Babylon  and  she  died. 
Land  monopoly,  as  in  Egypt,  was  the  death  warrant,  for 
four  per  cent  of  the  people  owned  all  the  land  and  ninety- 
six  per  cent  of  the  people  owned  none,  were  tenants,  serfs 
and  slaves. — Cyancres,  i  13. 

MEDO  PERSIA. 

Next  in  order  came  the  Medo  Persian,  the  silver  em- 
pire, whose  ravishing  beauty,  ostentatious  display  of 
power  more  than  rivalled  her  golden  predecessor.  The 
Satraps  of  Persia,  in  the  day  of  their  dominacy,  were  the 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  235 

most  cruel,  debauched  and  overbearing  that  ever  had  a 
place  on  earth. 

They  set  themselves  up  as  gods,  and  to  admit  of  a  su- 
perior was  to  bring  down  on  the  head  of  the  offender  the 
dire  vengeance  of  these  tyrants.  Plato  says:  "So  great 
was  the  distance  between  the  prince  and  the  subjects 
that  the  latter  were  looked  upon  as  slaves,  while  the  king 
was  looked  upon,  not  only  as  their  sovereign,  their  abso- 
lute lord  and  master,  but  as  a  kind  of  divinity.  In  a  word, 
the  peculiar  character  of  Asiatic  nations  was  servitude 
and  slavery.  Luxury  to  madness  on  one  side  and 
wretched  poverty  and  abject  servitude  on  the  other." 

Their  robbery  of  the  people  eclipsed  all  that  had  gone 
before.  The  tenure  of  the  property,  centered  in  the  hands 
of  the  veriest  despots.  Then  to  secure  themselves  in 
their  ill-gotten  gains  they  secured  the  proverb,  which  at 
last  became  the  supreme  authority,  "that  the  laws  of  the 
Medes  and  Persians  change  not."  The  wage  of  the  toiler 
came  down  to  that  which  is  received  by  a  slave.  Then 
one  long  cry  of  anguish  wailed  through  the  land.  God 
blew  his  breath  against  Medo  Persia  and  she  died.  Land 
monopoly  was  the  death  warrant.  Less  than  three  per 
cent  of  the  people  owned  all  the  land  and  ninety-seven  per 
cent  of  the  people  owned  none — were  tenants,  serfs  and 
slaves. — Dio  Sic.  2-11. 


GREECE. 

The  brazen  empire  sprang  into  life  at  a  single  bound. 
The  mad  boy  of  Macedon  went  forth  conquering  and  to 
conquer.  He  charged  across  the  Granicus  and  turned 
civilization  westward,  whence  its  march  ever  since. 

Glorious  old  Greece !  land  of  beauteous  isles,  of  classic 
lore  and  epic  song! 

"Where  burning  Sappho  loved  and  sung." 

Land  of  mirth  and  tragedy  profound !  How  gladsome 
thy  royal  works  make  the  world  to-day !  Temple,  archi- 
trave and  monumental  Parthenon  stand  the  proud 
achievement  of  the  day  of  thy  transcendent  sun. 

But  like  all  that  had  gone  before,  she,  too,  forgot  man. 


236  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

Demosthenes  in  eloquence  and  pathos,  tender  as  the  love 
of  woman,  could  not  stay  the  tide  of  death. 

She  had  risen  from  nothing  to  glory  through  means 
simple  and  just.  R.  H.  2 1241,  says : 

"The  love  of  labor  removed  the  vices  and  passions 
which  generally  occasion  the  ruin  of  states.  They  led  a 
laborious  life,  intent  upon  the  cultivation  of  their  land 
and  the  arts,  and  not  excluding  the  husbandman  nor  the 
artificer  from  the  first  dignities  of  the  state;  preserving 
between  all  the  citizens  and  members  of  the  state  a  great 
equality,  void  of  pomp,  luxury  or  ostentation.  He  who 
had  commanded  the  army  for  one  year  fought  for  the 
next  in  the  ranks  of  a  private  soldier,  and  was  not 
ashamed  of  the  most  common  functions  of  the  armies  by 
land  or  sea.  The  reigning  characteristics  of  all  the  cities 
of  Greece  were  particular  affection  for  poverty,  a  medi- 
ocrity of  fortune,  simplicity  of  buildings,  furniture,  dress, 
equipage,  domestic  and  table.  It  is  surprising  to  con- 
sider the  small  recompense  with  which  they  were  satis- 
fied for  their  application  in  public  employments  and  for 
the  services  which  they  had  rendered  the  state." 

This  was  the  road  she  traveled  to  glory.  Now  look  at 
her  in  the  day  of  her  death: 

"The  Greeks  fell  blindly  into  the  snare  which  gave  the 
mortal  blow  to  their  liberty.  The  principal  causes  were 
disseminating  among  themselves  sectional  strife.  The 
Persians,  who  had  learned  the  power  of  the  steel  of  the 
Greeks,  resorted  to  their  gold  and  the  policy  of  bribery. 
There  were  Greeks  who  secretly  took  these  bribes  and  con- 
veyed into  the  hands  of  foreigners  the  substance  of  Greece 
and  her  liberty  was  lost." — R.  H.  2:242. 

Thus,  too,  our  republic  is  going.  Americans  are  fast 
conveying  the  substance  of  our  wealth  into  the  hands  of 
foreigners,  and  our  liberty  will  be  lost.  Sad,  sad  the  day 
that  saw  the  decline  of  classic  Greece. 

The  bread  winners  sunk  beneath  a  burden  of  woe, 
down,  down,  down,  till  tears  baptized  the  land  and  the 
cry  of  the  poor  filled  the  air.  Then  God  blew  his  breath 
against  Greece  and  she  died.  Land  monopoly  was  the 
death  warrant,  for  four  per  cent  owned  all  the  land  and 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  237 

ninety-six  per  cent  of  the  people  owned  none — were  ten- 
ants, serfs  and  slaves. 

ROME. 

Then  the  final  mighty  effort  of  man,  the  grandest  feat 
of  his  genius  and  power,  was  witnessed. 

The  founding,  growth  and  glory  of  the  Roman  Empire 
has  been  the  wonder  of  the  world.  Begotten  in  myth, 
fed  upon  the  ferocity  of  the  wolf,  led  by  the  intellect  of 
man,  she  grew  to  be  at  last  the  palladium  of  law  and  the 
legionary  of  war.  Her  "Twelve  Tables"  underlie  the 
codes  of  all  civilization  to-day.  Her  military  prowess  has 
been  the  admiration  of  mankind.  Her  works  in  every 
department  of  human  thought  and  action  are  unsurpassed. 
Aqueduct,  temple,  forum,  each  sta"nd  unparalleled.  Thea- 
ter, hippodrome,  drama — in  these  she  leads  all. 

Rome  has  been  termed  "The  Eternal  City."  From  that 
center  has  gone  forth  blandishments,  political  chicanery, 
ecclesiastical  Jesuitism,  and  they  for  ages  upon  ages  have 
ruled  the  world. 

Rome,  in  her  highest  glory,  was  simple  in  habit  and 
austere  in  manner.  There  was  but  slight  distinction  be- 
tween the  people.  "Citizen"  was  the  name  of  man.  Equal- 
ity of  fortune,  generous  distribution  of  land  was  the  law 
of  common  consent,  and  the  legal  enactment  of  the  state 
also. 

So  rich  in  achievement  was  she  at  one  time  that  eighty- 
five  per  cent  of  the  people  had  title  in  land.  Then  the 
legions  were  heroes  beyond  conquering;  then  Rome  was 
founded  on  a  rock.  She  but  followed  the  course  of  the 
great  empires  which  had  preceded  her.  In  the  incipiency 
of  them  all  justice  ruled  and  mercy  reigned  more  largely 
than  at  any  other  period  of  their  life.  But  as  the  nations 
before  her  turned  from  those  true  principles  of  equity 
and  justice,  in  the  day  of  their  degeneracy,  so  did  Rome. 

She  traveled  the  same  road  to  the  same  death,  to  cer- 
tain destruction.  In  what  way? 

Her  volume  of  money  at  the  commencement  of  this  era 
was  about  $1,800,000,000,  made  up  of  brass,  copper  and 
other  metals.  This  was  doomed  to  destruction.  She  de- 


238  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

termined  to  shrink  the  volume  and  make  the  lesser  vol- 
ume of  a  finer  metal.  So  she  shrunk  the  volume  to  $200,- 
000,000.  A  long  time  was  consumed  in  doing  it,  but  the 
road  was  passed  over,  the  goal  reached.  The  S.  C.  49, 
says:  "At  the  Christian  era  the  metallic  money  of  the 
Roman  empire  amounted  to  the  sum  of  $1,800,000,000. 
By  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  it  had  shrunk  to  less  than 
$200,000,000. 

The  fatal  effect  upon  the  empire  and  its  people  came 
much  sooner;  and  Rome  fell  by  reason  of  this  very 
shrinking  of  the  volume  of  the  money.  The  lands  passed 
out  of  the  hands  of  the  people  into  the  hands  of  the  few 
millionaires,  so  that  when  death's  great  ford  was  reached, 
where  civilization  was  to  die,  we  see  that  2,000  people 
owned  all  the  land  in  the  Roman  empire. 

When  we  reach  the  dreadful  period  where  the  civiliza- 
tion begun  in  Egypt,  eighteen  hundred  years  before,  was 
to  die  out  then  we  find  two  thousand  people  owning  all 
the  land.  Less  than  one  per  cent  of  the  people  owned  all, 
and  more  than  ninety-nine  per.  cent  of  the  people  owned 
none — were  tenants,  serfs  and  slaves. 

Land  monopoly  was  the  death  warrant,  a  shrinking 
volume  of  money  the  instrument  of  execution,  and  class 
laws  the  god  that  directed  this  destiny. 

Allison,  H.  E.,  says : 

"The  fall  of  the  Roman  empire,  so  long  ascribed  in  ig- 
norance to  slavery,  heathenism  and  moral  corruption, 
was  in  reality  brought  about  by  a  decline  in  the  gold  and 
silver  mines  of  Spain  and  Greece." 

Oh,  what  a  road  of  ruin,  wasted  fortunes,  broken  hearts 
and  maniac  men !  Here  is  what  is  said  by  high  antiquity 
on  the  point: 

"During  this  period  the  most  extraordinary  and  baleful 
changes  took  place  in  the  condition  of  the  world. 

"Population  dwindled  and  commerce,  arts,  wealth  and 
freedom  all  disappeared. 

"The  people  were  reduced  to  the  poverty  and  misery  of 
the  most  degraded  condition  of  serfdom  and  slavery.  The 
disintegration  of  society  was  almost  complete.  The  con- 
ditions of  life  were  so  hard  that  individual  selfishness  was 
the  only  thing  consistent  with  the  instinct  of  self-preserva- 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  239 

tion.  All  public  spirit,  all  generous  emotions,  all  the  noble 
aspirations  of  man  shrivelled  and  disappeared  as  the  vol- 
ume of  money  shrunk  and  prices  fell. 

"History  records  no  such  disastrous  transition  as  that 
from  the  Roman  empire  to  the  Dark  Ages." 

These  are  wondrous  times,  history  repeating  itself  be- 
fore our  eyes.  The  deadly  symptoms  that  forerun  the 
downfall  of  the  Roman  empire  are  seen  everywhere  in 
Christendom.  A  shrinking  volume  of  money,  the  trans- 
fer of  wealth  into  the  hands  of  a  few  by  operation  of  law, 
with  one  overshadowing  land  monopoly  is  surely  destroy- 
ing civilization  and  corrupting  even  to  death,  Christianity. 
Let  us  cite  facts.  The  silver  commission  says: 

"Money  is  the  great  instrument  of  association,  with  the 
very  fiber  of  social  organism,  the  vitalizing  force  of  indus- 
try, the  protoplasm  of  civilization,  and  as  essential  to  its 
existence  as  oxygen  is  to  animal  life.  Without  money 
civilization  could  not  have  had  a  beginning;  with  a  di- 
minishing supply  it  must  languish,  and  unless  relieved 
finally  perish." 

Gibbon  says  (4:55): 

"But  the  plebeians  of  Rome,  of  the  sedentary  and  ser- 
vile arts,  had  been  oppressed  from  the  earliest  times  by  the 
weight  of  debt  and  usury,  and  the  husbandman,  during 
the  term  of  his  military  services,  was  obliged  to  abandon 
the  cultivation  of  his  farm.  The  lands  of  Italy,  which  had 
been  originally  divided  among  the  families  of  free  and  in- 
digent proprietors,  were  so  insensibly  purchased  or 
usurped  by  the  avarice  of  the  nobles,  and  in  the  age  which 
preceded  the  fall  of  the  republic,  that  only  two  thousand 
citizens  were  possessed  of  any  independent  substance." 

The  O.  R.  W.,  412,  says: 

"As  for  the  miserable  class  whom  they  oppressed,  their 
condition  became  worse  every  day  from  the  accession  of 
the  emperors.  The  plebeians  had  ever  disdained  those 
arts  which  now  occupy  the  middle  classes.  These  were 
intrusted  to  slaves ;  originally  they  employed  themselves 
upon  the  lands  which  have  been  obtained  by  conquest. 
But  these  lands  were  gradually  absorbed,  or  usurped  by 
the  large  proprietors.  The  small  farmers,  oppressed  with 
debt  and  usury,  parted  with  their  lands  to  their  wealthy 


240  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

creditors ;  it  was  computed  in  the  time  of  Cicero  that  there 
were  only  about  two  thousand  citizens  possessed  of  inde- 
pendent property.  These  two  thousand  owned  the  world, 
the  rest  were  dependent,  and  they  were  powerless  when 
deprived  of  political  rights,  for  the  great  candidates  for 
public  honors  and  offices  liberally  paid  for  votes." 

That  is  exactly  our  condition  to-day  as  to  the  unlawful 
use  of  money  in  purchasing  the  elective  franchise.  The 
wretched  condition  of  the  masses  is  thus  told  by  the  same 
author : 

"The  poor  were  sold  into  slavery  for  trifling  debts; 
they  had  no  home,  the  poor  man  had  no  hope.  His  wife 
was  a  slave  to  penury,  and  he  no  better.  The  cry  for  bread 
by  his  children  greeted  him  constantly,  wretchedness  filled 
his  cup  and  despair  his  heart.  So  he  sought  diversions  in 
the  fierce  delights  of  the  drama,  the  gladiatorial  contest 
and  games.  Death  was  his  only  hope  as  release  from  suf- 
fering. Luxury  that  never  had  an  equal  on  one  side  and 
degradation  unsurpassed  on  the  other.  Millionaires  on 
one  side,  beggars  on  the  other.  Tyrants  and  task  masters 
on  one  side,  serfs  and  slaves  on  the  other.  Incomes  of 
one  hundred  million  dollars  a  year  on  one  side  and  a  third 
of  the  people  eating  at  the  public  expense  of  the  other." 

Livy.  B.,  2 123,  says : 

"While  he  served  in  the  army  during  the  Sabian  war, 
having  not  only  lost  the  produce  of  his  farm  by  the  depra- 
dations  of  the  enemy,  but  his  house  being  burnt,  all  his 
goods  plundered,  his  cattle  driven  off,  and  a  tax  being 
imposed  at  a  time  so  distressing  to  him,  he  was  obliged  to 
run  in  debt;  that  these  debts  aggravated  by  usury,  had 
consumed,  first,  his  farm,  which  he  had  inherited  from 
his  father  and  grandfather ;  then  the  remainder  of  his  sub- 
stance, and  lastly,  like  a  pestilence,  had  reached  his  per- 
son ;  that  he  had  been  dragged  by  a  creditor,  not  into  serv- 
itude, but  into  a  house  of  correction,  or  rather  a  place  of 
execution." 

We  have  glanced  over  these  authorities  so  as  to  fasten 
on  the  mind  the  appalling  fact  that  he  who  monopolizes 
land  is  a  destroyer  of  civilization  and  murderer  of  man. 

Just  the  things  that  have  been  witnessed  in  the  sickly 
past  are  seen  again.  Fortunes  up  to  millions,  aye,  billions ! 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  241 

in  the  hands  of  a  few.  The  many,  the  masses  degraded, 
starving,  hopeless,  a  third  eating  at  the  public  expense. 

The  assassin's  knife,  the  incendiary's  torch,  made  day 
and  night  alike  hideous.  Lewdness  filled  the  land,  mar- 
riage was  a  nullity ;  and  children  in  their  innocence  and 
helplessness,  were  marked  by  their  illegitimacy,  clinging 
to  them  like  a  curse — such  was  Rome. 

And  to  add  sorrow  to  the  appalling  picture,  drunken- 
ness in  high  and  low  life,  excelled  in  enormity  and  beast- 
liness, all  that  had  gone  before. 

Having  traced  the  sad  results,  the  robbery  of  land 
from  many  until  civilization  itself  died  and  the  dark  ages 
came  as  the  fruitage,  let  us  retrace  our  steps  and  see  if 
divine  wisdom  at  the  very  outset  of  that  march  of  death 
did  not  set  an  example,  which,  if  followed,  would  have 
saved  the  world  from  its  oft  baptisms  of  tears  and  blood. 

We  will  revert  briefly  to  the  Jews  and  the  dividing  of 
the  land  of  Canaan  by  lot.  This  is  a  portion  of  history 
worthy  of  our  most  careful  consideration,  a  transaction 
not  heralded  by  the  world.  And  following  the  fall  of 
Egypt,  a  fall  brought  on  her  because  of  her  robbery  of  the 
land  out  of  which  man  has  to  get  his  bread,  it  is  a  lesson 
of  infinite  importance,  and  will  ultimately  be  followed. 

God  put  his  stamp  of  disapprobation  upon  land  monop- 
oly so  effectually,  in  the  division  of  the  promised  land,  as 
to  forever  settle  the  question. 

What  was  done  in  Canaan  ?    See  the  contrast. 

In  the  promised  land  the  title  to  the  soil  was  obtained 
by  "lot,"  and  was  so  distributed  that  each  bread  eater 
had  the  place  provided  to  get  his  bread  from.  This  stands 
in  blazing  contrast  with  Egypt  (and  all  the  empires  of  the 
world),  where  the  land,  by  robbery,  in  fact  or  in  law,  had 
passed  into  the  hands  of  the  few.  Consequently  the  many 
could  get  bread  only  at  the  will  of  another.  A  thing 
hateful  to  God  and  murderous  to  man. 

Let  us  examine  the  land  system  of  Jewery.  The  lands 
were  disposed  of  thus : 

"And  the  Lord  spoke  unto  Moses  saying:  'Unto  these 
the  land  shall  be  divided  for  an  inheritance,'  and  Moses 
commanding  the  children  of  Israel  saying:  'This  is  the 
land  which  ye  shall  inherit,  and  ye  shall  divide  the  land 


242  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

by  lot;  to  the  more  ye  shall  give  the  more  inheritance, 
and  to  the  few  ye  shall  give  the  less  inheritance,  every 
man's  inheritance  shall  be  in  the  place  where  his  lot  fall- 
eth.'  "  By  lot  was  the  inheritance  as  the  Lord  commanded. 

"And  Joshua  cast  lots  for  them  in  Shiloh,  before  the 
Lord,  and  then  Joshua  divided  the  land  unto  the  children 
of  Israel. 

"The  lot  is  cast  into  the  lap,  but  the  whole  disposing 
thereof  is  of  the  Lord." — Bible. 

The  lands  were,  as  seen  by  these  examples,  divided  by 
divine  appointment,  so  that  each  one  got  the  portion  which 
God  set  apart  for  him.  Thus  were  the  children  of  Israel 
settled — each  one  a  land-holder. 

The  great  law  announced  at  the  beginning,  "Earn  your 
bread  by  the  sweat  of  your  brow,"  was  here  utilized  and 
put  in  reach  of  all.  But  as  there  were  crafty  and  unscru- 
pulous ones  among  the  people,  and  as  there  were  simple 
and  confiding  ones  also,  among  the  people,  some  plan 
must  be  devised  to  keep  the  land  justly  and  equitably  di- 
vided, so  that  all  should  be  able  to  get  bread  and  have  a 
place  to  live.  And  the  cupidity  of  man  being  well  known, 
the  monster  things,  extortion  and  usury,  also  being  under- 
stood, it  was  necessary  to  devise  a  mode  by  which  an 
equipoise,  a  general  holding  (each  a  portion)  by  the  peo- 
ple, of  the  land,  a  mode  that  should  not  nor  could  not  be 
destroyed.  A  plan  must  be  instituted  among  the  people 
where  the  land  monopoly  of  Egypt  could  not  come. 

THE  JUBILEE. 

God's  great  law  is  "The  land  shall  not  be  sold  forever, 
for  the  land  is  mine."  Lev.  25  '.23. 

To  this  end  the  jubilee  was  established.  It  was  a  statute 
of  limitation  against  land  monopoly,  and  one  of  the  grand- 
est ever  put  upon  a  statute  book.  The  world  must  come 
to  it  yet  universally.  A  distinguished  writer  speaking  of 
it  uses  this  language : 

"Its  limitation  was  fifty  years.  At  each  occurring  period 
of  the  half  century,  all  lands  reverted  to  their  ancient  own- 
ers. The  political  design  of  the  law  of  jubilee  was  to  pre- 
vent the  too  great  oppression  of  the  poor,  as  well  as  their 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  243 

being  liable  to  perpetual  slavery.  By  this  means  the  rich 
were  prevented  from  accumulating  for  perpetuity." — R. 
K.,  703. 

The  darkest  period  in  history,  as  has  been  shown,  fol- 
lowed the  fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,  known  as  the  Dark 
Ages.  And  this  was  brought  about  by  a  shrinking  vol- 
ume of  money  resulting  in  land  robbery.  "An  increasing 
value  of  money,  and  falling  prices  have  been  and  are  now, 
more  fruitful  of  human  misery  than  war,  pestilence  or 
famine." — Jones.  And  this  fearful  disorder  went  on  till 
the  revival  of  letters.  The  first  indication  of  life  arose 
from  the  wide-spread  influence  of  the  Bank  of  Venice,  and 
soon  after  the  introduction  and  use  of  Bills  of  Exchange, 
which  gave  the  world  of  trade  a  wider  circulating  me- 
dium, giving  birth  to  a  new  spirit  of  enterprise. 

Through  all  this  long,  sorrowful  period — from  Egypt 
to  the  death  of  Rome — the  land  tenures  were  based  on 
ROBBERY.  And  even  the  discovery  of  the  New  World 
and  instituting  a  fee  in  land  did  not  break  up  the  robberies 
which  for  more  than  a  thousand  years  has  held  Europe's 
toiling  millions  down  to  a  vassalage,  cruel  as  the  grave. 

All  over  the  continent  the  "Free  Booter"  system  ob- 
tains. England  leads  off  in  a  land  monopoly,  more  foul 
and  deadly  than  has  disgraced  the  earth  (light  and  knowl- 
edge considered),  since  that  of  Egypt.  A  word  in  regard 
to  it  and  then  we  will  take  up  the  matter  as  it  applies  and 
as  it  is  operating  in  this  country. 

The  Inter  Ocean,  June  29,  1878,  on  this  question,  said: 
"In  Great  Britain  eight  persons  own  more  than  200,000 
acres  of  land  each,  and  forty-one  persons  own  more  than 
100,000  acres.  The  largest  land  holder,  according  to  re- 
cent report,  is  the  Duke  of  Sutherland,  who  owns  1,358,- 
425  acres  of  land  in  Scotland.  The  Duke  of  Bauccleugh 
and  Queensburg  owns  459,260  acres,  Sir  James  Mathei- 
son,  406,070  acres,  Earl  of  Bradalbane,  372,729  acres, 
Earl  Learfield,  305,891  acres,  Duke  of  Richmond,  268,407 
acres,  Earl  of  Fife,  257,652  acres,  and  Alexander  Mather- 
son,  220,433  acres. 

Thirty-two  thousand  own  the  land  of  the  British  Isles, 
where  some  thirty  million  people  have  to  subsist.  We 
have  a  copy  of  the  London  Contemporary  Review,  in 


244  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

•which  George  Ogden  shows  up  the  land  question  in  its 
hideousness :  "A-  better  notion  of  the  growth  of  our  land 
monopoly  may  be  obtained  from  the  following :  The  Earl 
of  Bredalbane  can  ride  on  his  own  land  in  a  single  direc- 
tion loo  miles.  The  Duke  of  Sutherland  owns  the  coun- 
ty of  the  same  name.  This  county  reaches  from  sea  to 
sea.  The  Duke  of  Richmond  holds  possession  of  340,000 
acres  at  Gordon  Castle  and  Goodwood,  and  the  Duke  of 
Devonshire  96,000  in  the  county  of  Derby  alone. 

It  has  been  authoritatively  stated  that  less  than  160  per- 
sons now  own  one-half  of  England,  and  three-fourths  of 
Scotland.  The  way  in  which  political  power,  so  largely 
monopolized  by  land  proprietors,  has  been  used,  may  be 
gleaned  from  the  fact  that  within  the  last  two  hundred 
years,  7,000,000  acres  of  common  lands  have  been  added 
to  their  estates,  that  is  the  estate  of  adjoining  proprietors." 

Tenantry  is  the  rule  in  Europe,  and  has  been  for  cen- 
turies as  evidenced.  A  leading  article  in  the  New  York 
Times  of  April  25,  says  on  this  point :  *  *  *  "It  is  a 
change  of  ownership  of  the  soil  and  the  creation  of  a  class 
of  landholders  on  the  one  hand,  and  tenant  farmers  on 
the  other,  something  similar  in  both  cases,  to  what  has 
long  existed  and  now  exists,  in  the  older  countries  of 
Europe." 

The  whole  policy  of  this  country  is  shaping  things  to 
this  end  surely  and  certainly. 

During  the  past  decade  and  a  half  of  years  there  has 
been  granted  to  persons  and  corporations  by  the  govern- 
ment land  enough  to  create  seven  states  as  large  as  Ohio. 
That  is  a  crime  in  land  monopoly  exceeding  anything  in 
history. 

An  empire  of  land  robbed  from  the  living  and  the  yet 
unborn,  and  all  done  at  the  command  and  dictation  of 

CONSOLIDATED  GRASPING  CAPITAL. 

Says  a  distinguished  statesman,  in  reference  to  the  de- 
cision of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  on  this 
land  monopoly  question : 

"The  deliberate  judgment  of  the  highest  court  in  the 
Union  is  thatwhere  the  pre-emption  law  invites  settlers  on- 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  245 

to  the  public  lands  and  offers  them  homes  on  certain  con- 
ditions with  which  they  are  willing  and  anxious  to  com- 
ply, the  government  may  write  itself  down  a  liar  and  take 
the  lands  they  have  settled  on.  And  this  is  the  unanimous 
opinion  of  the  court.  It  totally  ignores  the  policy  of  the 
government  for  the  past  forty  years,  and  when  read  care- 
fully in  the  light  of  the  facts,  it  will  be  found  to  elaborately 
pettifog  the  case  for  the  monopolists.  I  brand  it  as  the 

DRED  SCOTT  DECISION  OF  THE  AMERICAN  LAND  POWER. 

It  arrays  the  government  against  the  poor  man  and 
makes  it  the  ally  of  the  monopolists.  It  strikes  at  the  Na- 
tion's well  being,  if  not  its  life." 

The  remedy  for  these  evils  is  the  thorough  renovation 
of  our  land  policy.  This  is  the  question  of  questions.  It 
underlies  every  other,  and  no  party  deserves  to  live  who 
will  not  face  it.  This  question  reaches  down  to  the  very 
bedrock  of  Democracy ;  for  if  a  few  individuals  or  char- 
tered corporations  may  absolutely  own  millions  of  acres, 
then  they  may  own  the  whole  of  a  state  or  a  continent,  and 
thus  practically  enslave  the  people. 

The  land  holders  of  a  country  govern  it  and  therefore 
the  struggle  for  equal  rights,  whether  this  country  or 
Europe,  must  eventuall>  uphold  the  natural  right  of  the 
people  to  an  inheritance  in  the  soil. — G.  W .  J. 

The  fight  is  for  the  natural  right  of  inheritance  in  the 
soil.  The  crime  of  the  ages  has  been  the  robbery  of  the 
soil,  and  that  now 

LAND  MONOPOLY 

is  the  crime  of  crimes.  But  we  look  with  hope,  hope,  hope 
to  the  future,  for  this  new  continent  has  divine  possibili- 
ties lying  within  its  embrace. 


THE  FIFTH  STEP. 

The  fifth  step  in  the  conspiracy  was  the  act  of  July  14, 
1870,  authorizing  the  refunding  of  the  public  debt.  And 
it  should  be  noticed  that  the  very  idea  implied  in  funding 
a  debt,  is  that  it  is  not  to  be  paid.  And  the  desperate  men 
having  secured  the  passage  of  the  law,  March  18,  1869, 
making  all  the  bonds  payable  in  coin,  therefore,  for  the 
then  present,  making  it  impossible  for  the  government  to 
pay,  as  it  had  not  the  coin.  But  this  was  a  dangerous  con- 
dition. It  was  such  a  high-handed  outrage,  such  an  in- 
famous robbery  as  had  not  before  been  given  to  the  con- 
spirators— the  act  of  sin,  March  18,  1869.  The  conspira- 
tors were  afraid  to  rely  on  that  act  for  fear  of  its  repeal, 
so  the  old  5'2O  must  not  be  paid  but  refunded;  exchanged 
for  bonds  of  lower  rates,  and  this  the  holders  of  the  bonds 
demanded.  The  funding  act  and  the  supplemental  act 
and  the  supplemental  acts  were  the  result  of  this  scheme 
of  piracy  fifteen  hundred  millions  dollars  were  authorized 
to  be  refunded.  And  both  the  principal  and  interest  of 
the  new  bond  payable  in  coin  of  the  standard  value,  and  as 
if  this  was  not  enough,  both  the  principal  and  interest 
exempted  from  taxation.  Each  dollar  in  the  new  bond 
is  payable  in  258-10  of  gold  or  412  1-2  grains  of  silver, 
of  the  standard  weight  and  fineness  of  the  act  of  July  14, 
1870,  and  this  contract  is  written  on  the  face  of  each  of 
the  new  bonds.  This  all  accomplished  the  cry  of  funding 
at  a  lower  rate  was  blazed  forth  as  the  excuse,  and  pay- 
ment of  the  bond  in  the  identical  money  it  was  payable  in 
— Greenbacks — was  abandoned. 

246 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  247 

A  NATIONAL  DEBT  IN  PERPETUO. 

The  truth  is  becoming  more  and  more  patent,  that  the 
great  effort  of  capitalists  is  to 

PREVENT   THE   PAYMENT   OF   THE   DEBT. 

This  is  proved  by  the  desperate  measures  that  have  fol- 
lowed the  refunding  act.  We  have  seen  that  the  "dollar" 
in  the  new  bond  is  to  be  "gold"  and  "silver"  of  a  certain 
"weight"  and  "fineness." 

THE  NEXT  THOUGHT  OF  THE  CONSPIRATORS. 

If  the  metal  can  be  appreciated,  made  more  valuable, 
then  the  bonds  become  also  more  valuable.  So  having  se- 
cured the  fifth  link  in  the  chain  that  should  bind  labor  to 
the  wheels  of  capital,  the  conspirators  were  ready  to  take 

THE  SIXTH   STEP. 

The  sixth  step  in  the  conspiracy  was  the  cheat  of  March 
12,  1873, 

DEMONETIZING    SILVER. 

The  remarkable  feature  about  the  dropping  of  the  silver 
dollar,  412  1-2  grains,  9-10  fine,  is  that  no  one  knew  any- 
thing about  it.  This  is  likely  true  as  to  the  mass  of  the 
members ;  but  while  it  is  true,  it  proves  that  there  were  a 
few,  and  they 

CONSPIRATORS, 

who  knew  all  about  it,  and  surreptitiously  put  the  act 
through.  The  bill  was  said  to  be  one  thing,  while  it  was 
altogether  another  thing.  More  than  that :  Discussion  was 
stifled,  cut  off,  and  the  bill  passed  under  the  torture  of  the 
rules, 


248  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

WITHOUT   BEING    READ, 

as  required  by  the  law  and  rules  of  the  House.  And  still 
deeper  did  the  crime  go.  The  sections  that  did  the  devilish 
work  were  hid  away  in  the  midst  of  a  bill  on 

WEIGHTS  AND  MEASURES. 

How  many  took  part  in  the  crime  and  got  part  of  the 
five  hundred  thousand  dollars  said  to  have  been  sent  here 
by  foreign  banks  to  secure  the  legislation,  may  never  be 
known.  Mr.  Fort,  M.  C,  says:  "It  was  put  through  un- 
der the  suspension  of  the  rules  at  the  bidding  of  the 

BONDHOLDERS 

without  being  read  to  the  House.    This  law  was 

STOLEN  THROUGH  CONGRESS 

by  being  hidden  in  the  body  of  a  bill.  Mr.  Speaker,  the 
story  is  told  in  a  very  few  words.  It  was  done  in  the  in- 
terest of  the  bondholders,  and  hence  it  was  done." — Fort, 
M.  C. 

Mr.  Kelley,  M.  C.,  says:  "I  was  ignorant  of  the  fact 
that  it  would  demonetize  silver,  and  so  were  those  distin- 
guished senators,  Elaine  and  Voorhees,  who  were  both 
in  the  house  at  the  time." 

"Did  you  know  that  the  dollar  was  dropped  when  the 
bill  passed?" 

"No,"  said  Mr.  Elaine.  "Did  you?"  "No,"  said  Mr. 
Voorhees. 

SOMEBODY  KNEW,  AND  HE  OR  THEY  CONSPIRATORS. 

They  were  the  secret  agents  of  the  Money  Power  in  our 
Congress  and  secured  the  passage  of  a  law  that  has  af- 
fected the  world  as  but  few  laws  have  in  all  time.  The 
Economist  of  London,  says: 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  249 

"The  remonetization  of  silver  by  the  United  States 
would  restore  the  old  relations  of  the  metals,  and  put  an 
end  to  the  disaster  brought  upon  the  world  by  the  folly 
and  wickedness  of  German  and  American  demonetiza- 
tion." 

The  Chicago  Tribune  says:  "That  a  vast  sum  of 
money  was  expended  to  secure  the  legislation,  and  that  the 
act  was  a  stupendous  villiany." 

When  the  fact  is  fully  realized  that  all  the  gold  and 
silver  ever  coined  are  wholly  inadequate  to  the  work  of  the 
exchanges  of  Christendom,  then  it  will  appear  how  su- 
premely wicked  it  was  to  destroy  one-half  of  the  money. 
And,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  that  is  just  what  was  done. 

THE  OBJECT  WAS  TO  APPRECIATE  BONDS  AND  INCREASE  THE 
PURCHASING  POWER  OF  MONEY. 

All  the  gold  and  silver  ever  coined  in  the  United  States 
up  to  December  31  was  $1,191,140,787;  not  enough  with- 
in $600,000,000  of  paying  the  outstanding  bonds  to-day. 
— L.  A.,  1878. 

Thus  we  come  to  the  last  link,  the  crown  of  sin  in  the 
arch  of  death, 

THE  SEVENTH  STEP, 

which  landed  us  in  John  Sherman's  heaven.  The  seventh 
and  last  step  in  the  conspiracy  was  the  act  of  January  14, 
1875,  authorizing  and  declaring  by  law  the  resumption  of 

SPECIE  PAYMENTS,  JANUARY  I,  1879. 

This  act  placed  the  conspirators  in  the  absolute  control 
of  the  government.  These  seven  Acts,  these  laws,  and  set 
forth  as  to  their  gravaman,  fix : 

1.  A  single  gold  standard  to  measure  all  values. 

2.  A  bonded  debt  never  to  be  paid. 

3.  Bank  paper  issued  on  these  bonds  and  inflated  and 
contracted  at  the  will  of  the  conspirators. 

Thus  the  money  power  reached  their  financial  system, 
their  "honest  money,"  and  utterly  refuse  to 


250  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

ABOLISH   THESE    CLASS   LAWS. 

All  the  fuss  in  Congress  is  over  the  effort  to  repeal  or 
modify  these  laws,  and  but  for  the  agitation  of  the  Green- 
back party  concerning  them  and  their  iniquity,  not  one  of 
them  would  have  been 

CHANGED  IN  THE  LEAST. 

It  has  not  been  possible  to  give  us  back  the  silver  dollar 
as  it  was  originally :  It  has  not  been  possible  to  make  the 
greenback  legal  tender,  and  all  the  acts  and  all  the  laws 
passed  since  the 

SEVEN  CLASS  LAWS 

were  enacted  have  been  construed,  as  the  bank  syndicate 
construe  them,  to  make  the  burden  upon  labor  more  and 
more  oppressive  and  to  enthrone  capital  more  and  more 
absolute. 

This  system  of  money  is  suited  to  a  monarchy,  and  if 
allowed  to  remain  the  permanent  system  will  subvert  the 
Republic  and  erect  in  its  place  an 

ARISTOCRATIC  DESPOTISM, 

a  government  of  class  rule  and  serf-labor.  This  condition 
of  things  cannot  be  avoided  if  these  laws  remain  in  force. 
They  create  a  class  who  absorb  by  operation  of  law  and  re- 
duce in  time  to  destitution  all  other. 

THIS  GOLD  STANDARD  IS  A  CRIME  AGAINST  HUMANITY. 

Of  such  a  system  President  Harrison  said : 
"If  there  is  one  measure  calculated  better  than  another 
to  produce  that  state  of  things  where  the  rich  are  daily 
getting  richer  and  the  poor  daily  getting  poorer,  it  is  a 
metallic  currency." — Inaugural  Address,  1841. 

One  of  our  statesmen  speaks  thus:  "The  changes 
which  have  been  wrought  in  this  country  since  1860  have 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  251 

all  tended  to  equalize  the  conditions  of  life  as  between 
this  country  and  Europe,  and  they  are  much  more 
nearly  alike  than  a  vast  majority  of  Americans  are 
aware." — S.,  1878. 

These  laws  constitute  a  monster  oligarch  of  wealth. 
They  bring  into  tangible  existence  a  piratical  land 
monopoly,  a  free  booter  monopoly.  "Land  monopoly" 
thieves  on  "land  grants,"  "confiscated  lands,"  "trust 
deeds,"  "decrees,"  and  "mortgages." 

"Money  monopoly,"  under  the  general  name  Money 
Power,  managed  by  a  "syndicate,"  aggregates  capital 
by  operation  of  law,  till  it  is  next  to  omnipotent.  Its  hydra- 
head  bears  the  insignia  of  its  power  in  bank  corporations, 
manufacturing  corporations,  railroad  corporations,  insur- 
ance corporations,  loan  corporations.  These  are  corporate 
persons;  these  are  bodies  of  sin  and  soulless  as  vampires. 

THE  NATIONAL  BANKING  SYSTEM  IS  THE  KEY  TO  THE  ARCH 
THEY  ARE  THE  CENTER  OF  CORPORATE  POWER. 

These  are  the  genii  that  are  robbing  labor,  through 
their  selfish  greed,  till  it  dies  of  want  in  the  midst  of 
plenty. 

Having  thus  set  forth  the  seven  steps  of  the  conspiracy, 
we  are  to  briefly  notice  the  remedy,  to  which  we  ask  your 
attention. 

THE  REMEDY. 

To  give  this  clearly  we  must  reverse  the  wrongs  step 
by  step.  Undo  the  financial  conspiracy. 

THE  FIRST  STEP. 

The  very  first  step  in  financial  reform  is  to  make  the 
greenback 

FULL  LEGAL  TENDER  MONEY. 

And  that  the  volume  shall  be  sufficiently  large  to  keep  all 
industries  healthfully  employed.  We  are  met  here  with 
the  inquiry:  What  is  money?  It  is  a  fair  question  and 
needs  a  fair  answer. 


252  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper 

United  States  notes  (greenbacks)  shall  be  lawful 
money  and  a  legal  tender  for  all  debts,  except  the  interest 
on  the  public  debt  and  duties  on  imports." — Revised  Stat- 
utes, United  States,  vol.  i,  p.  712,  sec.  3588. 

This  is  the  law  of  the  nation.  Further  on  we  shall 
speak  in  detail  as  to  the  functions  of  and  what  money  is. 

Here  we  remark:  Take  away  the  two  exceptions  and 
the  greenback  will  be  a 


PERFECT  MONEY. 

More  perfect  in  all  the  elements  which  compose  a  per- 
fect money  than  metal  money  can  ever  be. 

It  is  objected  that  these  "United  States  notes"  are  not 
money,  but  "promises."  The  objection  is  not  true.  For 
the  reason  that  the  sovereign  power  says,  no  matter  what 
their  form  or  wording,  these  notes  "shall  be  lawful 
money." 

The  Inter-Ocean,  September  19,  1878,  says:  "The 
laws  of  the  country  do  not  regard  United  States  legal  ten- 
der notes  as  promises  to  pay,  but  as 

ABSOLUTE    MONEY FIAT    MONEY    IF    YOU    CHOOSE. 

The  S.  P.  C.  United  States,  Trebelcock  vs.  Wilson,  et 
ux.,  12  Wall,  695,  says : 

"As  the  acts  of  February  25,  1862,  declares  that  the 
notes  of  the  United  States  shall  also  be  lawful  money  and 
legal  tender  in  payment  of  debts,  and  this  act  has  been 
sustained  by  the  recent  decision  of  this  court  as  valid  and 
constitutional,  we  have,  according  to  this  decision, 

TWO   KINDS  OF   MONEY, 

essentially  different  in  their  nature,  but  equally  lawful." 
Here  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  puts 

metal  and  paper  money  on  the  same  constitutional  ground 

and  holds  them  both  equally  constitutional  and  lawful. 
This  ought  to  settle  the  right  and  authority  to  "make" 

money,  as  it  is  derisively  called. 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  253 

But  it  is  said  to  be  a  "war  measure,"  and  that  paper 
money  cannot  be  issued  in  time  of  peace.  This  is  an  as- 
sumption. War  does  not  enlarge  or  diminish  the  consti- 
tution. What  is  constitutional  in  time  of  war  is  consti- 
tutional in  time  of  peace  and  vice  versa.  Further,  the 
Supreme  Court,  on  the  "legal  tender  cases,"  12  Wall,  de- 
cided that  Congress  had  the  power  to  fix  and  measure  the 
necessity  for  the  exercise  of  such  power  and  that  was  the 
end  of  the  matter.  If  Congress  thought  the  necessity  for 
issuing  money — paper  money — existed  in  a  time  of  pro- 
found peace  they  could  do  it  and  the  court  would  hold 
their  action  constitutional.  Congress  is  the  sole  judge.  But 
suppose  it  should  be  held  by  the  court  under  such  a  pres- 
sure as  gave  birth  to  the  Dred  Scott  case,  that  there  was 
no  constitutional  authority  for  the  issue  of  legal  tender 
notes  (greenbacks)  in  time  of  peace.  It  would  only 
change  the  ground  of  the  fight. 

The  question,  as  it  applies  to  the  rights  of  man  and  the 
well  being  of  the  people  is  not  what  is  in  the  constitution 
as  now  constituted,  but  is 

LEGAL   TENDER   PAPER    MONEY   DEMANDED   BY   OUR    CIVILI- 
ZATION ? 

If  so,  and  the  constitution  forbids  it, 

LET  THE  CONSTITUTION   BE  AMENDED  SO  AS  TO  ALLOW   IT. 

This  discussion  is  on  the  merits  of  the  money,  and  if 
right  it  must  and  will  come. 

More  of  this,  under  "money  definitions,"  further  on. 

THE  SECOND  STEP. 

The  second  step  in  the  remedy  is  to  abolish  the  national 
banks  of  issue. 

We  have  shown  in  this  paper  that  banks  of  issue  were 
repugnant  to  our  institutions  and  monarchical  in  their 
tendency.  A  word  further  on  that  point: 

"The  national  bank  act  means  a  national  interest  bear- 
ing debt,  high  taxes,  a  timid,  inflated,  irredeemable,  de- 
based currency  for  a  measure  of  value." — Colonel  SJotc, 
Gran  vcr. 


254  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

John  Adams  said  of  a  national  bank :  "It  has  thrown 
the  majority  into  the  hands  of  those  who  were  shapen  to 
Toryism,  and  in  British  idolatry  did  their  mother  con- 
ceive them." — State  Papers,  v.  2. 

Richard  Rush  said,  in  1834,  when  the  fearful  fight 
was  going  on  under  Jackson :  "I  have  hardly  time  to  say 
go  on  with  your  patriotic  work  of  extirminating  such  a 
corporation  (the  National  bank).  In  such  a  warfare 
with  it  I  am  with  you  heart  and  hand." — S.  P.,  v.  6. 

Lafayette  said:  "For  a  long  time  I  saw,  with  pain, 
the  advance  of  an  aristocratic  moneyed  institution,  which 
threatened  to  cast  a  poisonous  mildew  over  our  precious 
liberties.  They  (the  National  banks)  would  have  ren- 
dered our  fair  country  a  passive  instrument  in  their  hands, 
in  which  case  freedom  would  have  vanished  from  among 
us. — Letter  to  Gessie. 

Every  word  of  these  great  men  is  true,  and  are  warn- 
ings coming  to  us  from  their  honored  graves,  telling  us 
that  a  National  banking  system  is  an  "aristocratic  insti- 
tution" and  a  "mildew  to  our  precious  liberties." 

Knox,  comptroller  of  the  treasury,  has  told  just  what 
"specie  payments,"  "national  banks"  and  "resumption" 
means,  and  it  is  quite  different  from  the  belief  of  the 
masses.  We  set  out  some  of  his  choice  sayings  as  verifi- 
cations of  what  the  great  names  warned  us  against.  Here 
is  what  the  bank  clerk  of  the  treasury  department  says. 
It  tells  you  what  your  money  system  is:  "There  is  not 
sufficient  gold  or  silver  coin  in  the  country  to  pay  for  the 
twentieth  part  of  the  products  of  the  present  year.  But 
the  machinery  of  banks,  with  its  system  of  checks  and 
bills  of  exchange  and  clearing  houses,  can  pay  for  it  in 
all  dollars,  every  one  of  which  will  be  an  equivalent  of 
the  true  standard  dollar  of  25  8  10  grains  of  gold  9  10 
fine. 

Resumption  does  not  mean  the  actual  use  and  handling 
of  gold  and  silver  in  every  transaction. 

Coin  and  currency  are  but  the  small  change  used  in 
trade. 

Bank  checks  and  bills  of  exchange  are  the  instruments 
employed  in  all  large  transactions. 

Resumption  means  only  that  the  dollar  represented  by 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  255 

the  check  shall  be  equivalent  to  25  8-10  grains  of  gold 
9-10  fine.  (Ms.  and  Doc.,  1877-8,  p.  137.) 

Now,  that  stripped  of  the  fustin  and  klishmi  claver, 
as  Scott  would  say,  means,  simply,  that  banks  want  to 
transact  97  per  cent  of  the  business  of  the  world  on 
checks  and  bills  that  they  issue.  The  other  3  per  cent  of 
the  business  of  the  world  the  bankers  are  willing  to  be 
done  on  money  that  they  control. 

This  is  the  chuckluck  of  banking. 

Which  means — when  the  people  learn  to  see  the  fraud 
and  detect  the  trick — this: 

BANKS  WANT  TO  DO  BUSINESS  ON  WHAT  THEY 
OWE,  A  SYSTEM  OF  ROBBERY  THAT  GIVES  THEM  INTEREST 
ON  THEIR  DEBTS. 

THE  THIRD  STEP. 

The  third  step  in  the  remedy  is  to  forever  settle  the 
infamous  crime  of  inflation  and  contraction  of  the  vol- 
ume of  the  money. 

It  is  the  volume  of  the  money  that  governs  prices: 

"Other  things  equal,  the  general  average  of  prices  is 
determined  by  the  quantity  of  currency  in  circulation  and 
prices  advance  and  recede  as  that  is  increased  or  dimin- 
ished. *  *  And  that  is  an  economic  law,  as  certain  as 
any  of  the  laws  of  nature." — W.  V .,  I,  p.  221. 

It  is  the  volume  of  the  money,  without  any  regard 
as  to  what  material  the  money  is  composed,  that  fixes 
prices.  Same  authority,  so  the  volume  once  fixed  should 
not  be  changed,  but  grow  at  the  same  rate  as  the  popu- 
lation increases. 

And  let  it  be  remarked  that  a  fixed  volume  of  at  least 
sixty  dollars  per  capita  would  bring  blessings  upon  the 
country  priceless  beyond  calculation. 

THE   FOURTH    STEP. 

The  fourth  step  in  the  remedy  is  the  payment  of  the 
bonds. 

A  national  bonded  debt  is  a  bonded  curse.  We  would 
pay  the  debt,  then  burn  the  bonds  into  ashes,  put  the 
ashes  on  a  stream  and  coax  the  stream  to  pour  its  ashes 


256  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

of  bonds  into  perdition  and  have  no  more  bonds  as  long 
as  hades  swept  its  murky  rounds. 

To  reach  this  end  let  legal  tender  notes  take  the  place 
of  National  bank  bills,  and  let  the  free,  unlimited  coin- 
age of  gold  and  silver  be  established  by  law,  and  to 
make  the  remedy  still  more  sure  and  broad  let  money  of 
every  material  be  issued  by  the  United  States,  and  made 
full  legal  tender  for  all  debts,  public  and  private. 

THE    FIFTH    STEP. 

The  fifth  step  in  the  remedy  is  to  stop  the  funding  of 
the  debt.  As  bonds  themselves  are  useless  and  a  crime, 
the  funding  them  is  a  double  crime.  It  is  a  scheme 
where  an  eternal  paying  goes  on,  but  the  debt  is  never 
paid.  Those  who  have  fixed  great  national  debts  in  per- 
petuo  on  the  present  and  coming  generations  are  enemies 
of  the  human  race,  and  ought  to  die  for  their  crimes 
committed  against  unborn  children.  This  sham  plan  of 
funding  at  a  low  rate  of  interest  is  a  lie.  The  object  is 
to  put  the  debt  beyond  the  reach  of  the  people  and  never 
pay  it,  and  at  last  settle  down  to  where  England  is,  a 
public  debt  never  to  be  paid.  An  aristocracy  lording  it 
over  the  poor.  Labor  degraded  to  serfdom ;  capital 
deified  to  be  a  robber  god. 

THE  SIXTH  STEP. 

The  sixth  step  in  the  remedy  should  be  to  abolish  all 
distinctions  between  gold  and  silver  as  money.  Free  coin- 
age of  both  should  be  the  law. 

THE  SEVENTH   STEP. 

The  seventh  step  in  the  remedy  is  to  stop  forever,  un- 
der penalty  of  death,  that  infamy  of  suspension  of  specie 
payments  and  then  resumption  of  specie  payments. 

Who  set  this  devilish  trap?  The  bankers.  Who 
profits  by  it?  The  bankers.  Who  is  robbed  by  it?  The 
people.  What  is  contraction  and  resumption?  It  is  rob- 
bery. What  is  a  specie  paying  system?  A  lie.  Who  is 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  257 

the  author  ?  Bankers.  Who  is  the  father  of  the  scheme  ? 
The  devil.  Who  operates  it?  Legalized  pirates. 

The  immortal  Webster  said,  in  1837,  when  the  banks 
were  "suspended"  and  getting  ready  to  "resume,"  this: 

"A  specie  paying  system,  if  issued,  is  a  contrivance 
invented  to  cheat  the  laboring  classes  of  mankind."  True 
as  the  gospel. 

There  are  other  steps  in  order  to  a  full  remedy,  which 
we  will  now  notice. 

All  class  laws  must  be  abolished.  The  railroads  must 
be  put  under  the  control  of  laws  that  are  in  the  interest 
of  the  people.  Run  as  they  now  are,  by  the  corporations, 
they  are  an  engine  of  oppression  against  the  masses  of 
the  people.  These  monopolies  must  be  broken  up,  and  those 
mighty  highways  become  the  property  of  the  people,  as 
the  seas,  lakes  and  rivers  are.  The  public  highways  are 
incidents  to  sovereignty  and  must  not  be  jobbed  out  in 
the  interest  class,  but  held  and  controlled  by  the  govern- 
ment with  no  intervening  agent. 

So  must  the  money  monopoly  be  broken  up  and  the 
issue  of  all  money  restored  to  the  people.  The  centraliz- 
ing and  aggregation  of  capital  by  operation  of  law  must 
be  broken  up  also. 

CORPORATE   PERSONS  ARE   THE   GREAT   DANGER   OF   OUR 
TIMES. 

The  rights  of  the  individual  person  are  forgotten  in  the 
clamor  for  the  rights  of  the  corporate  person.  All  the  laws 
are  framed  that  have  to  do  with  personal  and  real  prop- 
erty, with  direct  reference  to  the  advancement  of  cor- 
porate persons  and  to  the  injury  of  individual  persons. 

The  laws  being  thus  framed  create  the  capital  class 
and  the  labor  class.  And  the  monster  thing,  thus  given 
legal  life,  stands  revealed,  the  land  monopoly  and  money 
monopoly  of  modern  times;  a  menace  to  the  life  of  our 
Christian  civilization. 

Having  discussed  the  questions  in  group  and  singly 
it  remains  to  urge  the  supremacy  of  labor  over  capital  in 
order  that  civilization  may  live,  and  then  show  that  the 
land  question  is  the  one  in  which  labor  is  to  be  enfran- 


258  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

chised.  The  right  of  man  to  an  inheritance  in  the  soil  is 
a  divine  right. 

On  the  labor  problem  we  will  give  two  authorities, 
two  great  names : 

"Labor  is  prior  to  and  independent  of  capital.  Capi- 
tal is  only  the  fruit  of  labor,  and  could  never  have  existed 
if  labor  had  not  first  existed.  Labor  is  the  superior  of 
capital  and  deserves  much  the  higher  consideration." — 
Lincoln's  second  message. 

"I  affirm  it  as  my  conviction  that  class  laws  placing 
capital  above  labor  endangers  the  republic  more  fatally 
this  hour  than  did  chattel  slavery  in  the  day  of  its  haugh- 
tiest supremacy." 

And  this  conviction  becomes  a  certainty  to  me  when  I 
read  the  warning  voice  of  the  martyred  president — the 
immortal  Lincoln — on  this  very  question,  "the  effort  to 
place  capital  above  labor  will  shake  the  republic,  and 
when  the  attempt  grows  into  law  it  will  be  used  to  fasten 
still  greater  burdens  upon  the  people  until  all  liberty  is 
lost." — Lincoln's  Letter  to  Ellis. 

Daniel  Webster  said :  "Sir,  I  say  it  is  employment  that 
makes  the  people  happy.  This  great  truth  ought  never 
to  be  forgotten.  It  ought  to  be  placed  upon  the  title  page 
of  every  book  on  political  economy  intended  for  America. 
It  ought  to  head  the  columns  of  every  farmer's  magazine 
and  mechanic's  magazine.  It  should  be  proclaimed  every- 
where 'that  where  there  is  work  for  the  hands,  there  is 
work  for  the  tooth ;  where  there  is  employment  there  will 
be  bread.'  And  in  a  country  like  ours,  above  all  others, 
will  this  truth  hold  good.  If  they  can  obtain  fair  com- 
pensation for  their  labor  they  will  have  good  houses,  good 
clothing,  good  food,  and  the  means  of  educating  their 
families.  Labor  will  be  cheerful  and  the  people  happy. 
The  great  intent  of  this  great  country  is  labor,  labor, 
LABOR!" — Speech  in  1837. 

As  a  measure  of  remedy  let  us  give  a  word  of  warn- 
ing as  to  the  dreadful  and  growing  crime  of  land  mo- 
nopoly. 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  MONEY  AND  ITS  USES. 


FROM  A  SPEECH  BY  JESSE  HARPER. 


HARD   BONDS — HARD  MONEY HARD    TIMES. 


Hard  money  is  of  the  same  sort  dealt  in  by  the  high 
priests  of  hypocrisy  and  Judas  Iscariot,  the  betrayer. 
And  the  devilish  workings  of  it,  now  as  then,  is  to  sell 
the  Christ  of  humanity,  dragging  millions  of  toilers  down 
to  serfdom  and  death.  And  all  this,  that  a  legally  cre- 
ated class  of  drones — an  untaxed  bond  aristocracy — may 
eat  the  shelled  corn,  leaving  only  the  husks  for  the  myriad 
famishing  laborers  who  produce  the  corn. 

But  before  we  treat  of  the  "hard"  feature  in  money  let 
us  look  at  the  question:  What  is  money? 

There  is  to-day  a  wider  difference  of  opinion  on  the 
subject  of  money  than  any  of  so  great  importance. 

This  being  so,  we  deem  it  prudent  before  going  further 
to  define  some  terms  that  are  constantly  misleading  many 
honest  people  and  prevents  the  proper  understanding 
of  the  nature  and  office  of  money  among  civilized  men. 

"Wealth  and  utility  are  synonymous  terms.  So  are 
capital  and  value.  But  wealth  and  capital,  utility  and 
value  are  not  synonymous,  although  constantly  used  as 
such  by  most  persons. 

And  money  is  not  capital  but  a  representation  of  capi- 
tal, although  the  material  (if  metal)  of  which  it  is  made, 
may  be  capital,  when  not  used  as  money.  Capital  is 
sought  with  a  view  to  be  consumed  or  retained ;  whereas 
money  is  only  sought  as  a  means  of  obtaining  useful  com- 
modities and  services." — Moran  on  Money,  17. 

"Money  in  its  ordinary  signification  is  an  agency  of 
trade." — The  Money  Question. 
Another  very  noted  writer  says : 


260  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

"Money  is  a  legal  creation  put  forth  by  sovereign  au- 
thority to  facilitate  the  exchange  of  commodities  and  ser- 
vices."— Dr.  Stvase  quotod,  M.  M. 

This  is  a  still  fuller  definition  yet  in  the  discussion  of 
so  important  a  question — one  that  the  people  have  to  pass 
upon.  A  still  more  complete  one  is  desirable.  Another 
writer  uses  this  language: 

"Money  is  a  natural  medium  of  exchange  for  prop- 
erty and  products.  It  must  be  instituted  and  its  value 
fixed  by  the  laws  of  the  nation  in  order  to  make  it  a 
public  tender  in  the  payment  of  debts.  The  term  money, 
then,  signifies  a  legal,  public  medium  of  exchange.  Money 
has  four  properties  or  powers: 

1.  Power  to  represent  value. 

2.  Power  to  measure  value. 

3.  Power  to  accumulate  value  by  interest. 

4.  Power  to  exchange  value." — Kellogg,  N.  M.  S.,  66. 
The  third  proposition — "power  to  accumulate  value  by 

interest,"  we  think  unsound  and  far  from  true.  This, 
by  the  way.  That  definition  is  fuller.  It  makes  money 
an  agent,  which  it  really  is.  Hence  the  proposition  is  a 
very  fine  one,  saving  the  third  point,  as  supra — a  most 
sensible  definition,  within  the  reach  of  the  most  obtuse. 
It  makes  money  a  tool  to  work  with. 

"Carts  and  money  are  both  tools,  instruments  of  con- 
veyance, endowed  with  the  same  nature  and  subject  to 
the  same  general  laws.  The  question  of  each  is  the  same 
— how  many  is  wanted  for  the  work  which  they  are  in- 
tended to  do. 

"A  cart  transfers  weight ;  money,  ownership,  and  all  the 
world  knows  that  the  cartage  to  be  done  determines  the 
number  of  carts.  In  the  same  way  the  ownership  of 
property  which  requires  to  be  transferred  by  money,  de- 
termines how  much  money  there  ought  to  be  in  a  na- 
tion."— Prof.  Bonamy  Price,  P.  E.  137. 

Here  the  Professor  makes  money  a  "tool,"  a  "cart"  in 
figure.  This  is  right.  At  another  place,  as  inconsistent 
as  it  really  is,  he  plainly  infers  that  all  "carts"  must  be 
gold.  That  is,  nothing  but  "gold"  can  "transfer  owner- 
ship." 

The  following  is  worthy  of  careful  thought : 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  261 

"Money  is  the  measure  of  the  relative  value,  or  rather, 
the  common  demonstrator  of  the  value  of  all  things — 
except  itself."— M.  M.  66. 

Now  look  at  Prof.  Price  against  himself.  In  his  work 
quoted  supra,  on  Political  Economy,  he  makes  the  vol- 
ume of  money  the  desiderata.  In  the  following  in  his 
work,  Currency  and  Banking,  it  is  the  material  out  of 
which  money  is  made  that  is  the  desiderata. 

And  this  is  from  one  who  is  wholly  a  monarchist,  has 
no  just  ideas  of  the  rights  of  labor.  So  he  comes  down 
in  support  of  "king  money,"  as  a  great  statesman  has 
called  gold  money. 

Prof.  Price  is  the  gentleman  that  some  one  has  said 
this  of:  "He  is  a  devoted  disciple  of  that  system  which 
affirms  that  one  portion  of  the  race  are  born  with  golden 
spoons  in  their  mouth  to  eat  up  the  soup  of  the  other." 
So  he  slashes  in  for  gold.  "Coin,  metallic  coin,  is  the  true 
money  and  nothing  else  is — unless  it  be  a  commodity,  an 
ox,  a  cow,  or  a  piece  of  salt." — Prof.  B.  Price,  C.  and  B. 

That  is  the  old  Roman  system.  They  used  copper  bars 
and  cattle.  They  used  commodities.  In  his  definition 
the  professor  makes  money  and  commodities  synonymous. 
This  is  false  and  deceptive.  He  says  "coin,"  "metallic 
coin,"  is  money.  Why  did  he  not  say  gold  and  silver 
are  money  and  go  no  further?  Because  they  are  not, 
till  coined.  It  takes  the  sovereign  law  to  make  metal  into 
money.  Yet  this  teacher  of  youth  and  men  says  "coined 
metal  alone"  is  money — except  all,  yes,  ALL  commodi- 
ties. For  if  "ox,"  "cow,"  and  "salt"  is  money,  then  any 
commodity  is  money. 

On  the  word  "alone"  he  does  not  tell  the  truth.  For, 
if  the  sovereign  power,  the  government,  can  "coin"  (the 
act  of  stamping)  "gold"  and  "silver,"  into  money,  then 
it  can  "coin"  (act  of  stamping)  any  other  commodity  into 
money.  The  truth  is  here.  No  commodity  is  money. 

Whatever  commodity  becomes  money  becomes  so  by 
the  sovereign  act  of  the  government  coining,  stamping, 
making  it  money. 

And  one  commodity,  inherently,  is  just  as  susceptible 
as  another  for  the  purpose  of  coining,  stamping,  making 
into  money. 


262  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

After  using  the  word  "alone,"  he  excepts  "ox,"  "cow," 
"salt." 

Now,  if  that  is  true,  then  a  colt,  a  ship,  a  piece  of  coal 
are  equally  money,  for  they  are  commodities. 

But  the  simple  truth  is,  neither  of  the  six  things — ox, 
cow,  salt,  colt,  ship,  coal — are  money.  The  professor  is 
mistaken,  to  use  a  mild  phrase. 

And  he  is  sinning  against  light  in  so  misleading  the 
unwary.  It  is  just  as  true  that  gold  and  silver  are  not 
money  as  it  is  true  that  the  six  articles  named  are  not 
money. 

His  whole  intrinsic  value  theory  is  a  myth,  a  phantom, 
a  grievous  deception ;  held  on  to  by  the  minions  of  royalty 
to  sustain  class  and  rob  labor.  And  being  so,  it  is  the 
best  means  within  the  reach  of  monarchists  for  the  over- 
throw of  Republican  institutions. 

The  assumption  that  gold  and  silver  are  money  is 
more  false  than  the  assumption  of  the  Chinese  juggler, 
who  says  the  word  stands  on  a  terrapin. and  that  the  ter- 
rapin goes  clear  through  and  stands  on  nothing. 

And,  if  as  harmless  as  though  it  were  the  Cosmogony, 
it  would  be  there  with  a  smile.  But  when  we  reveal  that 
this  false  theory  of  money  is  the  most  grievous  wrong, 
materially  speaking,  of  the  age,  we  cannot  pass  it  with 
indifference. 

It  robs  labor  and  fills  the  world  with  hunger,  crime 
and  death.  It  cannot  be  passed  as  harmless.  It  is  an 
Apolyon  blocking  the  way  to  a  higher  state  policy.  It 
stands  in  the  way  of  that  progress  of  Christian  civiliza- 
tion for  which  is  the  last  best  hope  of  man. 

And  now,  before  we  go  further  in  the  discussion  of 
money,  let  us  give  brief  attention  to  the  origin  of  money. 

Money  is  first  mentioned  in  history  1860  years  B.  C. 
Gen.  17:12. 

The  text  is  "bought  with  money."  The  original  word 
is  keh-seph  and  occurs  in  the  Hebrew,  Gen.  12:2,  and 
reads  "silver."  The  reading  is  "rich  in  cattle  and  silver." 

In  Gen.  23:9  we  find  the  words  "for  as  much  money 
as  it  is  worth,"  referring  to  the  ground  bought  by  Abra- 
ham for  burial.  The  Hebrew  word  is  defined  by  G.  H. 
L.,  thus :  "Keh-seph,"  "silver,"  so  called  from  its  paleness, 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  263 

as  Green  argunos  from  argos  white.  Money,  which  an- 
ciently consisted  of  bars  or  pieces  weighed  out  and  not 
coined. 

Gen.  23:16  reads:  "Current  (money)  with  the  mer- 
chant." 

Dr.  Conant  renders  it  "current  with  the  merchant," 
leaving  out  "money,"  which  is  right;  for  in  the  a.  v. 
(authorized  version)  you  notice  money  is  in  italics,  which 
means  that  the  word  is  not  in  the  original,  and  that  is 
true. 

The  important  point  is  as  to  the  word  "current,"  be- 
cause Abraham  had  "weighed"  out  to  the  sons  of  Hith 
"silver,"  which  was  current  with  the  merchant. 

The  original  from  which  "current"  comes  is  gah-var, 
and  is  defined  "current,  can  be  passed." — G.  H.  L. 

He  paraphrases  the  word  thus — "money  passing  among 
the  merchants,"  i.  e.,  "which  passes  current."  He  then 
adds :  "Pieces  of  silver  on  which  the  weight  was  marked, 
as  among  the  Chinese ;  since  coined  money  can  hardly 
have  been  in  existence  in  the  days  of  Abraham." 

The  Vulgate  renders  the  Hebrew  gah-var  into  the 
Latin  probata  moneta. 

On  the  words  "current  money  with  the  merchant" 
Brand's  Encyclopedia  says : 

"From  the  time  of  Abraham  silver  money  appears  to 
have  been  in  general  use  in  Egypt  and  Canaan.  This 
money  was  weighed  out  when  its  value  had  to  be  deter- 
mined, and  we  may  therefore  conclude  that  it  was  not 
of  a  settled  system  of  weights.  Throughout  the  law 
money  is  spoken  of  as  in  ordinary  use,  but  only  silver 
money." 

Homer  speaks  of  money  1184  B.  C. 

The  invention  of  coining  is  ascribed  to  the  Lydians, 
whose  money  was  gold  and  silver,  coined  by  the  tyrant 
of  Argos  862  B.  C. 

Money  was  coined  at  Rome  573  B.  C.  The  most  an- 
cient coins  known  are  Macedonia,  of  the  5th  century, 
B.  C. 

Brass  money  only  was  in  use  at  Rome  previous  to  269 
B.  C.,  when  silver  was  coined.  Gold  was  coined  206 
B.  C. — B.  Ency. 


264  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

Money.  The  word  money  is  merely  the  Latin  word 
moneta,  Englishized,  so  to  obtain  a  just  view  of  what 
money  is,  as  proved  by  its  origin,  a  true  understanding 
of  the  original  word,  and  the  sense  in  which  it  was  used 
is  essential. 

We  have  seen  that  "money"  in  the  Bible,  the  oldest 
historic  mention,  only  meant  silver.  This  is  easily  ac- 
counted for.  It  was  translated  after  the  Latin  word  had 
become  Englishized,  so  we  must  reach  the  meaning  of 
the  Latin  before  we  get  a  clear  idea  of  this  English  word 
"money." 

"Moneta"  means  "adviser,"  a  surname  of  Juno,  in 
whose  temple  money  was  coined.  It  is  called  money,  be- 
cause each  piece  has  stamped  on  it  an  index  of  character 
which  advises  or  informs  what  it  is.  There  is  nothing 
whatever  in  the  word  which  means  material  or  particular 
substance. ' ' — Jo  nes. 

It  should  be  marked  here  as  a  parenthesis,  that  the 
verb  "to  coin,"  as  it  stands  in  the  constitution,  bears  no 
signification  whatever  to  the  material  quality  or  char- 
acter of  the  thing  coined;  but  relates  exclusively  to  the 
act  to  be  performed ;  that  is,  "stamping,"  "making,"  "in- 
venting," "fabricating."  The  act  may  be  performed  on 
anything. — Jones. 

In  still  further  tracing  the  origin  of  money,  it  will  aid 
us  if  we  take  into  our  range  of  investigation  the  ques- 
tion, "Of  what  money  has  been  been  made." 

In  Africa,  where  for  centuries,  the  lowest  possible 
civilization — if  civilization  at  all — has  existed,  we  find 
"cowry  shell"  used  as  money.  The  money  of  no  faith, 
savage  money.  It  is  "small  shells"  brought  from  the 
Maldives,  which  passes  current  as  a  coin  in  Hindoostan 
and  in  extensive  districts  of  the  East. — B.  Cyc. 

"The  currency  on  the  slave  coast  is  little  shells  as 
large  as  the  edge  of  one's  finger,  called  cowry,  it  is 
usual  to  value  two  thousand  cowries  at  one  dollar." — 
T.  J.  B. 

Wampum,  white  shells  or  strings  of  shells,  was  used 
by  American  Indians  as  money. — W.  D. 

And  let  it  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  simple  ideas  of 
the  barbarian — untutored  and  unsung — impress  them- 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  265 

selves  upon  the  civilization  that  follows,  and  it  takes 
centuries  of  suffering  and  suffering  before  they  can  be 
eradicated. 

Thus  it  has  been  in  the  money  idea. 

The  polishecl  Greeks,  not  able  to  cut  loose  at  once 
from  the  barbarism  from  whence  they  sprang,  used  cat- 
tle money  first,  then  metal  money.  Never  fully  rising  to 
the  true  idea  of  money;  but  throughout  their  wonderful, 
their  classic  existence,  were  tied  to  the  wheels  of  bar- 
barism, as  to  their  money  system. 

So  the  Carthagenians  used  cattle,  a  kind  of  money 
that  lived  through  centuries  and  came  down  to  the  middle 
ages  in  Europe. 

In  Abyssinia  salt  was  and  is  now  generally  used  so 
much  so  by  the  great  hive  of  the  East  as  to  warrant  Prof. 
Price  to  class  "salt"  as  "money"  along  with  metals. 
"Living  money — slaves  and  oxen — passed  current  among 
the  Anglo-Saxons. 

In  Iceland  and  Newfoundland  cod  fish  is  the  money. 

In  Scotland  for  a  long  time,  in  parts  of  the  island, 
nails  were  used  as  money. 

In  China  the  bark  of  the  mulberry  tree  impressed  with 
the  inscription  of  the  sovereign  was  money  at  the  time 
Marco  Polo  traveled  there.  This  was  a  movement,  as 
to  money,  in  the  right  direction.  It  was  a  correct  idea. 
—M.  M.  8,  W.  M.  R.  1848,  W.  N.  1 131,  H.  Book  6:29. 

These  were  the  shifts  of  barbarism  and  ought  not  for 
a  moment  to  be  tolerated  by  civilized,  enlightened  man. 

In  our  own  country,  at  an  early  day,  we  were  loaded 
with  the  clogs  of  superstition  and  barbarous  ideas  on  the 
money  question. 

In  Virginia  till  1660  tobacco  was  generally  used  as 
money.  And  this  was  not  confined  to  that  State  alone. 
Wheat  in  Massachusetts  in  1641  was  a  legal  tender  in 
the  payment  of  all  debts. — Early  Colonial  History,  93. 

In  France,  during  the  great  revolution,  on  the  motion 
of  Saint  Andrew,  they  discussed  the  question  long  of 
making  wheat  the  standard  of  value  and  the  money  of 
the  country. — M.  M.  g,  Lie  P.  E.  Paris. 

Platina  was  coined  in  Russia  till  1845  as  money.  But 
the  metals,  in  all  ages,  mostly  used  for  money  has  been 


266  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

gold  and  silver — silver  leading  largely  in  its  use. — M 
M.  ii. 

In  China  now  sycee  silver  is  the  principal  currency. 
Sycee  silver  is  merely  the  ingot  of  a  uniform  fineness, 
paid  and  received  by  weight  Silver  in  bulk,  at  its  pure 
touch  of  loo  per  cent,  takes  the  place  of  coined  money. 

This  is  divided  into  government  standard  called  tail, 
mace,  cash  and  candareen,  each  having  a  decimal  portion 
of  the  other.  And  thus  nominal  money  is  created  by  law. 
The  system  is  simply  exchanging  commodity  by  weight. 
— M.  M.  17. 

[The  report  of  Mr.  Robinson,  consul,  on  the  trade  of 
Shanghai.] 

The  coinage  of  money — a  word  more  in  addition  to 
what  was  said  before. 

The  Lydians  were  the  first  people  known  to  have 
coined  money,  gold  and  silver.  This  was  some  nine 
centuries  B.  C.  Greece  followed  a  century  later.  Servius 
Tullius,  king  of  Rome,  made  the  pound  weight  of  cop- 
per lawful  money  B.  C.  550.  After  that,  B.  C.  281, 
silver  was  coined,  and  gold  in  207  B.  C. — M.  M.  B.  Ency. 

At  the  time  Caesar  invaded  Britain,  A.  D.  54,  he  found 
coins  of  tin,  iron,  brass  and  gold.  The  Saxons  after- 
ward coined  silver.  At  the  conquest  William  the  Con- 
queror rejected  all  the  coins  but  silver,  so  that  for  a  long 
time  that  was  the  only  money.  The  Conqueror  coined 
no  money  but  silver  pennies,  called  "sterlings"  hence  the 
English  name  for  their  money — "sterling." 

Henry  III.  first  coined  gold  pennies  weighing  1.120 
of  a  pound.  At  this  time  also  there  was  coined  tin,  cop- 
per, gun  metal  and  pewter  and  made  each  and  all  legal 
tender  for  debts. — Macleod  T.  B.  i  :i68,  M.  M.  n. 

The  corruption  of  money  has  been  a  fearful  wrong, 
and  a  word  is  needed  in  regard  to  it. 

As  early  as  175  B.  C.  corrupt  rules  began  the  great 
crime  against  trade,  labor  and  commerce  of  debasing  the 
money. 

They  reduced  the  weight  of  the  coin. 

As  stated  Servius  Tullius  made  the  "as"  or  pound 
weight  of  copper.  In  about  three  centuries  this  had  been 
reduced  to  about  one  ounce,  or  1.24  of  its  original  weight. 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  267 

It  is  too  tedious  to  trace  in  detail  this  crime — so  pass 
down  to  an  epoch  age. 

The  livre  under  Charlemagne  was  12  oz.  pure  silver, 
His  successor  reduced  it  so  much  as  to  produce  riots 
among  the  people. 

John  the  "Good"  made  seventy-one  changes  during  his 
short  reign.  Making  the  money  to  suit  his  wickedness 
by  depreciating  through  alloy. 

Then  appreciating  the  coin  by  leaving  out  the  alloy. 
Thus  destroying  fortunes  and  making  them  as  his  caprice 
directed. 

The  crime  against  labor  during  the  middle  ages,  in 
this  very  thing,  can  scarcely  be  estimated.  And  it  is  an 
incident  to  metal  money  that  cannot  be  prevented.  Metal 
will  appreciate  and  depreciate  and  no  law,  human  or  di- 
vine, can  prevent  it  as  nature  is  now  constituted.  And 
when  this  fluctuation  is  aided  by  the  wickedness  of  man 
the  crime  becomes  overwhelming. — The  M.  Q.  93,  Gould 
on  B.  29,  Wailby  Researches  M.  S.  104. 

HARD  TIMES. 

Let  us  look  at  the  world  and  see  what  is  the  relative 
status  between  capital  and  labor.  Are  both  faring  alike  ? 

Hard  times  are  filling  the  world's  alms  house  with  the 
destitute,  the,  prisons  with  criminals,  the  world  with 
tramps. 

Napoleon  I.  said: 

"No  nation  dare  leave  its  people  without  work." 

His  genius  and  wonderful  ability  showed  him  that  as 
labor  was  the  cause  of  all  wealth,  so  all  laborers  should 
be  kept  constantly  at  work,  and  thus  keep  the  nation's 
wealth  augmenting  continually. 

Aside  from  times  that  pinch  "millions  hard,"  there  is 
a  sadder  view,  if  sadder  can  be;  it  is  the  dying  of  hope. 

More  than  three-quarters  of  the  vast,  the  infinite  throng 
of  Christendom,  are  sinking  into  hopelessness,  to  a  de- 
gree not  known  in  modern  times. 

Hard  times  are  crushing  fortunes  and  more  awful  than 
that,  are  crushing  men. 

Multitudes  appear  as  though  at  the  end  of  life's  jour- 


268  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

ney.  All  civilization  is  sick.  How  long  this  can  go  on 
before  utter  despair,  is  a  question  sealed  in  the  presence 
of  the  Great  Ruler. 

We  think  that  the  time  has  come  when  patience  has 
ceased  to  be  a  virtue. 

The  people  of  the  world  have  the  right  to  rise  in  their 
majesty  and  hurl  from  power  those  who  have  brought 
ruin  upon  the  human  race. 

Having,  in  a  general  way,  looked  at  hard  bonds,  hard 
money,  hard  times,  and  given  some  definitions  of  what 
money  is  made,  its  debasement,  we  are  now  prepared  to 
go  further  and  examine  the  wrong  laws  and  policies. 

And  when  we  have  traced  the  wrong  to  the  proper 
place  we  will  know  how  to  remove  it. 

These  wrongs  and  vicious  policies  have  endangered 
civilization — are  doing  it  to-day. 

To  point  out  the  remedy,  to  remove  the  danger,  is 
work  demanded  by  the  highest  instincts  of  humanity. 

THE    CURRENCY    QUESTION IN    DETAIL. 

Before  we  enter  upon  detail  let  us  state  a  thing  that 
we  affirm  as  a  great  principle. 

NO   BOND    SHOULD    EVER    HAVE    BEEN    ISSUED. 

We  ask  the  readers  to  remember  this  position.  It 
may  seem  strange  and  startling.  Be  it  so.  It  is  the 
truth  nevertheless.  And  being  so,  the  next  thing  we 
affirm  as  a  great  principle  is  the  bonds  should  be  paid  and 
not  refunded.  Held  subject  to  payment,  not  put  beyond 
the  reach  of  the  government. 

When  paid,  let  the  constitution  be  amended  so  that 
no  more  bonds  can  ever  be  issued,  under  penalty  of 
death,  to  those  doing  it.  We  mean  government  bonds. 

The  act  of  February  25th,  1862.  This  act,  as  it  origi- 
nally passed  the  House,  passed  as  a  necessity,  was  the 
grandest  enactment  of  law,  in  either  ancient  or  modern 
times.  It  was  a  legal  blessing.  It  was  as  grand  a  bless- 
ing as  was  ever  conferred  by  law.  And  it  was  the  means, 
materially,  of  our  salvation  as  a  nation. 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  269 

And  yet,  it  has  been  denounced  by  the  enemies  of  the 
country,  whether  they  knew  it  or  not,  the  vilest  law  ever 
put  upon  the  statute  books  of  a  people. 

Those  who  have  thus  denounced  it  had  no  conception 
of  the  matchless  worth  of  the  act. 

The  surroundings  of  the  day  that  saw  its  birth,  was 
marked  by  peculiarities,  such  as  had  not  been  witnessed 
before. 

A  war  was  upon  us  of  such  gigantic  proportions  as  to 
cause  the  world  to  look  aghast  at  the  fearful  drama. 

Every  moneyed  institution,  specie  payment  banks,  had 
suspended.  They  had  failed  before  paying  the  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  million  dollars  loaned  the  government. 
And  of  gold  and  silver  there  was  none. 

More  must  be  had  or  the  world's  great  Republic  dies. 
To  show  our  desperate  straits,  hear  what  was  said : 

"There  is  not  gold  enough  to  carry  on  the  war  fifty 
days.  We  must  rely  mainly  on  paper  money,  and  there 
is  another  thing  equally  certain,  that  paper  must  be  irre- 
deemable. All  paper  currencies  have  been  and  always  will 
be,  irredeemable.  It  is  a  pleasant  fiction  to  call  them  re- 
deemable; it  is  an  agreeable  fancy.  I  would  not  expose 
that  fiction,  only  the  great  emergency  that  is  upon  us 
seems  to  me  to  render  it  more  than  usually  proper  that 
the  nation  should  begin  to  speak  truth  to  itself,  to  have 
done  with  shams  and  to  deal  with  realities." — Senator 
Howe,  S.  H.  L.  T.,  107. 

It  was  urged  against  the  bill  that  to  go  in  debt  was  out- 
side of  the  constitution,  and  that  a  debt  would  ruin  us. 
To  this  a  master  mind  replied: 

"A  great  historian  and  a  great  Commoner  of  England, 
declares  that  all  these  cries  of  bankruptcy  and  ruin  were 
based  upon  a  double  fallacy.  They  who  raised  these  cries 
imagine  that  there  was  an  exact  analogy  between  the  case 
of  an  individual  who  is  in  debt  to  another  and  the  case 
of  a  society  which  is  indebted  to  itself,  and  they  also  for- 
get that  other  things  grow  as  well  as  the  debt. 

*  *  *  *  *  * 

"It  is  not  because  they  lack  intrinsic  value — the  United 
States  notes — that  they  need  to  be  made  lawful  tender, 
but  it  is  to  secure  to  the  government  in  their  issue  their 


270  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

true  value,  and  to  retain  for  them  that  true  value  as  you 
pass  them  to  your  noble  soldiery  in  the  field  and  to  all 
classes  of  the  people  not  engaged — as  the  most  persistent 
outside  opposition  to  this  bill  is  in  endeavoring  to  destroy 
the  value  of  them,  so  that  out  of  the  blood  of  their  sinking 
country  they  may  be  able  to  coin  the  gains  of  their  in- 
famy."— Shellebarger's  Speech,  S.  H.  L.  T.  88. 

Conspirators  against  the  green-back  were  then  laying 
their  schemes  to  ruin  liberty  and  sell  the  people.  The 
national  banks,  agents  of  the  money  power,  were  the 
men,  then  as  now,  who  were  lying  in  wait  that  they 
might,  out  of  the  "blood  of  their  sinking  country," 
coin  money.  Here  is  the  money  system  that  every  Shy- 
lock  in  Europe  and  America  set  their  face  against  and 
they  succeeded  in  getting  it  modified.  It  was  the  first 
victory  of  the  money  power.  The  victory  was  purchased, 
was  tainted  with  the  same  surroundings  that  tainted  the 
"thirty  pieces  of  silver."  It  was  the  high  priests  of  our 

temple  of  liberty,  selling  the  people's  annointed. 
*****  * 

"And  such  United  States  notes  shall  be  received  the 
same  as  coin,  at  their  par  value,  in  payments  for  any 
loans  that  may  be  hereafter  sold  or  negotiated  by  the 
secretary  of  the  treasury,  and  may  be  reissued  from  time 
to  time  as  the  exigencies  of  the  public  interests  shall  re- 
quire. There  shall  be  printed  on  the  back  of  the  United 
States  notes  which  may  be  issued  under  the  provisions  of 
this  act  the  following  words: 

"The  within  is  a  legal  tender  in  payment  of  all  debts, 
public  and  private." — S.  H.  L.  T.  97. 

That  is  the  hardest  hit  at  the  gold  gambling,  chuck- 
lucking  in  the  currency  and  banking  on  specie  basis  that 
was  ever  struck.  And  if  it  had  lived  in  that  shape  the 
whole  false  theory  of  hard  money,  and  the  ruin  incident 
to  it  would  have  died. 

The  bankers,  agents  of  the  money  power,  knew  it  and 
they  swarmed  down  upon  Washington,  an  army  more 
dangerous  to  Republican  institutions  than  the  Rebels 
were.  They  gained  their  point. 

"The  Assyrian  came  down  like  the  wolf  on  the  fold 
And  his  cohorts  were  gleaming  in  purple  and  gold." 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  271 


THE    GREAT    WRONG   OF    THE    SENATE    AMENDMENTS. 

The  Senate  amendments  were  two,  namely :  That  the 
interest  on  the  public  debt  and  duties  on  imports  must 
be  paid  in  coin. 

Here  are  two  things  put  into  the  bill  that  has  worked 
such  injury  as  to  scarcely  be  in  the  bounds  of  calculation. 
It  opened  up  the  way  for  a  gold  market.  -But  for  this 
no  demand  for  gold  would  have  arisen — a  circumstance 
that  would  have  been  above  price  to  the  country.  Two 
bidders  for  gold — the  government  and  the  importer. 

These  very  exceptions  put  the  government  under  the 
control  of  the  money  power,  and  it  has  been  kept  there 
ever  since. 

The  following  words  seem  the  utterances  of  prophecy : 

"The  two  exceptions.  These  combined  provisions  form 
a  mine  of  wealth  for  bankers  and  brokers.  The  duties 
and  interest  will  require  $60,000,000  of  gold  annually  and 
soon  double  that  amount.  Now  our  bankers  and  brokers 
have  scarcely  that  amount." — T.  S.  1862. 

So  infamous  did  the  bill  appear  to  that  ablest  reasoner 
of  them  all  that  as  he  came  from  the  Senate  conference, 
where  the  banking  agents  of  the  money  power  had  car- 
ried the  day — "bought  the  republic" — that  he  used  this 
awful  language  in  regard  to  the  conspirators : 

"Yes,  we  had  to  yield ;  the  Senate  was  stubborn ;  we 
did  not  yield  until  we  found  that  the  country  must  be 
lost  of  the  bankers  gratified,  and  we  have  sought  to  save 
the  country  in  spite  of  the  cupidity  of  its  wealthy  citi- 
zens."— T.  S.  R.  K.  M.  Q.  200. 

This  distinguished  man,  Mr.  Stevens,  used  these  sig- 
nificant words: 

"It  now  creates  money  and  by  its  very  terms  declares 
it  a  depreciated  currency.  It  makes  two  classes  of  money 
— one  for  the  bankers  and  brokers  and  the  other  for  the 
people."— T.  S.  1862. 

It  was  the  bankers,  agents  of  the  money  power  of 
Europe  and  America,  that  secured  these  two  exceptions. 


272  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

The  effect  of  which  was  to  "discredit  the  lawful  money 
of  the  United  States  at  its  very  birth." 

And  there  was  no  other  money  in  the  country,  and  by 
depreciating  this  they  assured  the  success  of  this  infamous 
scheme  of  the  gold  mongers.  "Coining  their  gains  out 
of  the  blood  of  their  sinking  country." — T.  S.  1862. 

This  bill,  thus  mutilated,  was  allowed  to  pass,  not  that 
it  was  all  the  Shylocks  wanted,  but  having  started  this 
entrance  wedge  they  waited  for  the  full  development 
of  their  conspiracy — a  conspiracy  to  break  down  the  rej 
public  by  a  money  monopoly. 

These  are  the  men,  who,  after  the  bill  passed  the  House, 
came  down  and  manipulated  the  Senate — "bought  the" 
republic." — Love  joy. 

These  are  the  men  who  had  to  be  "gratified  or  the 
country  lost."  These  are  the  men  who  were  the  supple 
tools,  the  willing  agents  of  the  Shylocks  that  the  money 
power  used.  They  are  bankers,  every  one  of  them.'  No- 
body opposed  the  bill  but  bankers  and  their  satellite 
brokers. 

Here  they  are : 

Mr.  Coe,  Exchange  Bank,  New  York. 

Mr.  Nemuly,  Merchants'  Bank,  New  York. 

Mr.  Martin,  Ocean  Bank,  New  York. 

Mr.  Gallatin,  National  Bank,  New  York. 

Mr.  Rogers,  Traders'  Bank,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Mr.  Mercer,  Farmers'  Bank,   Philadelphia,   Pa. 

Mr.  Patterson,  Weston  Bank,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Mr.  Haven,  Merchants'  Bank,  Boston,  Mass. 

Mr.   Wally,  River  Bank,   Boston,   Mass. 

Mr.  Bates,  Commercial  Bank,  Boston,  Mass. 

These,  joining  with  the  bankers  at  Washington,  and 
as  agents  of  the  bankers  of  the  United  States  and  Europe 
as  well,  by  means  of  and  through  the  efforts  of  their  part- 
ners— the  bankers  in  Congress — established  the  gold  ring 
that  has  ruled  the  country  ever  since,  and  will  ruin  the 
country  if  carried  to  its  perfect  fruitage. 

This  mutilated  act — the  two  exceptions  in  the  green- 
back— with  their  correlate,  gave  the  control  of  the  money 
to  the  bankers,  as  agents  of  the  money  power.  A  class 
was  created  lacking  every  element  of  patriotism,  men 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  273 

who  were  not  too  severely  denounced  by  that  grand  old 
commoner,  Stevens. 

Another  has  said  of  them  as  a  class : 

"Not  a  patriotic  act  can  be  found  in  their  history. 
While  the  soldiers  were  freely  giving  their  lives,  going 
to  the  front  by  the  million,  the  capitalists,  who  now 
trampk  upon  them  and  their  children,  were  only  lured 
from  their  safe  retreats  in  the  midst  of  their  hoarded 
treasures  by  vast  golden  bribes.  Neither  in  law  nor  equity, 
neither  in  the  sight  of  human  courts  nor  courts  divine, 
have  they  any  claim  on  the  forbearance  or  gratitude  of 
the  American  people." — Ben.  Wade. 

The  issue  of  legal  tender  money  by  the  government, 
was  a  policy  that  the  bankers,  agents  of  the  Money  Power, 
saw  would  finally  destroy  all  banks  of  issue,  hence  they 
must  kill  it. 

As  to  the  bonds,  they  saw  that  they  could  be  used 
doubly.  First,  by  being  hoarded,  as  interest  bearing, 
untaxed  securities ;  second,  as  a  banking  security. 

They  saw  the  ends  of  banks  of  issue  if  the  rag  baby 
lived,  so  the  first  thing  was  to  cripple  the  greenback — 
ultimately  destroy  it. 

And  so  connected  in  the  mind  of  the  conspirators, 
was  this  act  to  kill  the  greenback  with  the  issue  of  bank 
paper,  that  we  find  the  two  schemes  hatched  about  the 
same  time. 

The  fight  began  in  1862  was  between  legal  tender  gov- 
ernment money  and  bank  paper  money. 

In  carrying  through  this  wrong  to  the  people,  this  rob- 
bing of  labor,  this  ruin  to  business,  the  bankers,  agents 
of  the  Money  Power,  had  a  helper  in  Mr.  Chase,  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury.  He  was  a  zealous  champion  in  their 
behalf.  Why  he  was  so  we  do  not  stop  to  inquire,  but 
true  it  is.  No  sooner  did  he  get  fairly  into  the  office  of 
secretary,  than  he  began  to  push  forward  that  system  of 
banks  of  issue,  which,  under  his  skillful  management, 
finally  ultimated  in  the  national  banking  system  based 
upon  government  bonds. 

He  was  so  devoted  to  the  scheme  that  he  only  con- 
sented to  the  legal  tender  as  a  "temporary  relief."  The 


274  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

legal  tender  was  to  be  supplanted  at  the  earliest  moment, 
by  the  issue  of  bank  paper,  bottomed  on  bonds. 

The  foolish  assumption  that  Mr.  Chase  is  the  author 
of  the  greenback,  is  too  light  to  tell  even  to  the  marines, 
and  is  doing  violence  to  history. 

He  was  as  zealous  a  devotee  to  banks  of  issue  as  this 
country  ever  had.  He  believed  that  banks  of  issue,  based 
on  bonds,  ought  to  furnish  all  the  money. 

Instead  of  Mr.  Chase  being  the  author  of  the  greenback, 
legal  tender,  he  is  the  author  of  the  National  Bank  sys- 
tem. 

Sherman  acted  as  mid-wife  and  brought  the  thing  to 
life  in  its  present  shape.  But  Chase  is  the  father.  Yet, 
notwithstanding  this,  he  gave  a  correct  idea  of  the 
United  States  note,  the  greenback,  in  his  first  report. 
But  that  is  all.  He  finally  said — it  is  "merely  tempo- 
rary." After  issuing  the  fifty  million  demand  notes,  he 
made  this  suggestion  to  Congress,  and  here  is  the  germ 
of  the  national  banks. 

"The  second  contemplates  the  preparation  and  delivery 
to  institutions  and  associations  of  notes  prepared  for  cir- 
culation under  National  direction,  and  to  be  secured,  as 
to  prompt  convertibility  into  coin,  by  the  pledge  of  Unit- 
ed States  bonds  and  other  needful  regulations." — C.  R. 
to  C.  S.  L.  T.  8. 

This  system,  thus  presented,  was  conceived  in  the  mind 
of  such  bankers  and  capitalists  of  the  world  as  the  Roths- 
childs, Barings,  Drexell  and  McCullough,  and  when 
"hinted"  by  them  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  of 
the  great  American  Republic,  "he  booked  it  and  put  it 
in  shape,  and  by  his  official  influence  procured  its  en- 
actment." 

And  this  scheme  of  ruin  was  to  be  helped  forward  in 
its  first  step  by  the  repeal  of  the  greenback  act. 

This  plan  of  the  bankers,  thus  set  in  motion,  had  in 
view,  as  a  central  idea,  the  plan  that  the  National  debt 
should  never  be  paid,  after  it  was  all  funded  into  bonds. 

In  discussing  the  question  of  the  creation  of  the  bonds, 
this  language  was  used: 

"A  public  creditor  looks  not  to  the  principle — he  wants 
to  know  what  his  interest  is  to  be.  The  example  of  Eng- 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  275 

land  proves  this.  Nobody  supposes  England  will  ever 
pay  her  debt,  nobody  has  supposed  it  for  years.  All  we 
have  to  do,  therefore,  is  to  secure  the  interest,  no  matter 
about  the  principal." — S.  F.  U.  S.  S.  1862. 

So  true  is  this — that  is,  that  the  debt  was  not  to  be 
paid — by  1876,  the  provisions  for  the  sinking  fund  was 
abandoned.  Witness  this: 

"Mr.  Morrill,  in  his  report  on  the  finances,  in  Decem- 
ber, 1876,  acknowledged  his  inability  any  longer  to  pro- 
vide for  the  sinking  fund." 

Every  step  in  the  financial  legislation  was  in  a  direct 
line  against  the  payment  of  the  National  debt.  The  fol- 
lowing, taken  from  the  Nottingham  Journal,  an  English 
Liberal  paper,  shows  how  this  result  was  foreshadowed 
before  the  crisis  of  1873,  by  an  able  English  writer,  the 
author  of  "The  Bank  Charter  Act  and  the  Rate  of 
Interest,"  Lond.  1873:  "To  us,"  he  says,  "it  is  indeed 
a  melancholy  reflection,  and  one,  withal,  worthy  of  grave 
pondering,  that  when  the  United  States  shall  return  again 
to  a  convertible  currency,  the  liquidation  of  their  na- 
tional debt  must  cease.  Our  own  sinking  fund,  devised 
for  a  similar  object,  we  know,  ceased  to  receive  any  im- 
portant payments  after  the  abrogation  of  the  Bank  Re- 
striction Act.  No  currency,  doubtless,  but  one  that  was 
able  to  sustain  a  great  war,  need  be  expected  to  liquidate 
its  costs." 

The  whole  thing  was  conceived  in  sin  and  brought 
forth  in  iniquity.  And  being  so  even  Secretary  Chase 
turned  from  his  bank  idol  to  worship  at  the  fountain  of 
better  thought.  He  did  so  in  his  communication  to  Con- 
gress, June,  1862. 

"It  may  properly  be  further  observed  that  since  the 
United  States  notes  are  made  legal  tender  and  main- 
tained nearly  at  par  of  gold,  by  the  provision  of  their 
convertibility  into  bonds  bearing  six  per  cent  interest, 
it  may  be  well  to  issue  bills  of  less  denomination  than 
five  dollars. — C,  R.,  June,  1862, 


APPENDIX. 


MONEY    DEFINITIONS OPINIONS   OF    THE    DISTINGUISHED. 


"It  is  the  essence  of  money  that  it  possesses  intrinsic 
value." — Huskinson  in  B.  P.,  1810. 

Whatever  that  may  mean,  it  is  the  key  to  the  strong- 
hold of  all  who  maintain  the  hard  money  theory. 

"Money  is  a  value  created  by  law,  to  be  a  scale  of 
valuation  and  a  valid  tender  for  payments." — Prof.  Cer- 
neuchi,  B.  S.  C.,  1877. 

Whatever  that  may  mean,  it  is  the  stronghold  of  all 
who  maintain  the  fiat  money  theory. 

Where  there  is  no  law  there  is  no  transgression.  A 
truism. 

Where  there  is  no  law,  there  is  no  money.  A  truism 
also. 

Money,  origin:  It  is  mentioned  as  supra,  first,  1860 
B.  C.  Gen.  17:12. — Hayden  Dec.  Dates. 

Money,  a  construction.  The  verb  "to  coin,"  as  it  stands 
in  the  constitution  bears  no  signification  whatever  to  the 
material,  quality  of  character  of  the  thing  coined,  but 
relates  exclusively  to  the  act  to  be  performed  that  is  to 
"stamping,"  "making,"  "inventing,"  "fabricating."  The 
act  may  be  performed  on  any  material. — Jones. 

Daniel  Webster  said :  "Congress  shall  have  power  to 
coin  money,  to  regulate  the  value  thereof,  and  foreign 
coin ;  emit  bills  of  credit  or  make  anything  else  besides 
gold  and  silver  coin  a  legal  tender  in  payment  of  debts." 

Money — Intrinsic  value,  Commodity,  Aristotle  said: 
"The  use  of  a  thing,  no  matter  what  it  may  be,  as  money, 
is  a  use  entirely  different  from  the  use  of  it  as  a  commod- 
ity." 

John  Law  said:  "Paper  money  must  be  redeemed  in 
metal  money."  This  was  his  great  mistake.  It  is  the 
mistake  of  all  hard  money  men.  He  said  also,  "Money 

276 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  277 

is  not  the  value  for  which  goods  are  exchanged,  but  the 
value  of  which  they  are  exchanged."  Which  is  true. 

Dougald  Stewart  said :  "The  commodity  value  of  gold 
and  silver  was  different  from  the  money  value  thereof; 
and  that  commodity  value  was  not  necessary  to  money. 
North  British  Review  says:  "Metallic  money,  whilst 
acting  as  coin  money  is  identical  with  paper  money  in 
respect  to  being  destitute  of  intrinsic  value.  Coin  so  long 
as  it  circulates  within  the  realm  for  the  purpose  of  buy- 
ing and  selling,  loses  for  the  time  its  intrinsic  value." 

The  Ency.  Britannica  says :  "Gold  and  silver  as  com- 
modities do  not  measure  the  value  of  gold  and  silver. 
When  one  commodity  is  exchangeable  for  others,  each 
measures  the  value  of  the  other."  In  such  cases  neither 
can  be  a  standard  of  value. 

Took  H.  P.  et  al.,  say,  "As  commodities,  gold  and  sil- 
ver are  capital  but  as  money  they  are  mere  representa- 
tives of  commodities — of  wealth.  All  the  confusion  on 
the  subject,  and  which  has  mystified  the  works  on  econ- 
omy, arises  out  of  the  fact  of  not  discriminating  between 
gold  and  merchandise  and  gold  as  stamped  coin." 

President  Harrison,  Inaugural  of  1841,  says :  "If  there 
is  one  measure  better  calculated  than  another  to  produce 
that  state  of  things  where  the  rich  are  daily  getting 
richer  and  the  poor  are  daily  getting  poorer,  it  is  a  metal- 
lic money." 

Dr.  Franklin's  W.  v.  4,  says :  -  "It  is  the  legal  ten- 
der, with  the  knowledge  that  it  can  easily  be  repassed  for 
the  same  value,  that  makes  the  three  penny  worth  of  sil- 
ver pass  for  six-pence."  The  silver  commission  say: 
"Money  is  the  great  instrument  of  association,  the  very 
fibre  of  social  organism,  the  vitalizing  force  of  industry, 
and  as  essential  to  existence  as  oxygen  is  to  animal  life. 
Without  money  civilization  languishes,  and,  unless  re- 
moved finally  perishes." 

Money — gold  and  silver  not  fit  for,  owing  to  their 
changeableness  and  fluctuation  in  value.  This  principle 
in  them — fluctuation — has  in  ages  past  and  is  now  en- 
dangering civilization.  They  are  not  nor  can  they  be 
standards  of  value.  This  assumption  for  them  is  a  fraud 
and  ruinous  to  the  happiness  of  man. 


278  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

Ernest  Seyd  says :  "The  saying  prevails — gold  or  sil- 
ver are  standards  of  value.  Hence  the  controversy  about 
single  standard  vs.  so-called  double  standard.  It  is  ut- 
terly wrong  to  say  that  gold  or  silver,  either  singly  or 
combined,  forms  the  standard  of  value.  *  *  *  All 
this  grand  flourish,  with  false  pretense  to  modern  science 
and  allusion  to  the  igth  century,  must  fall  to  the  ground, 
for  I  have  not  the  slightest  doubt  that  there  are  logicians 
in  this  country  who  can  clearly  define  the  true  factorship 
of  money  and  show  the  error  or  clap-trap  involved  in  the 
phrase  respecting  standards  of  value.  The  doctrines 
held  by  our  gold  valuation  school  wantonly  inflicts  an 
injury  upon  the  world,  and  entail  a  kind  of  deviltry,  the 
curse  of  which  no  one  can  see  the  end." 

Allison's  "History  of  Europe"  says:  "The  fall  of  the 
Roman  Empire  so  long  ascribed,  in  ignorance,  to  slavery, 
heathenism  and  moral  corruption,  was  in  reality  brought 
about  by  a  decline  in  gold  and  silver."  The  mines  they 
knew  gave  out  and  the  volume  shrank  away,  so  that 
what  little  was  left  increased  in  purchasing  power  more 
than  three  hundred  fold. 

The  Silver  commission  says :  "History  records  no  such 
disastrous  transitions  as  that  from  the  Roman  Empire 
to  the  Dark  Ages,  and  that  the  disasters  of  the  Dark 
Ages  were  caused  by  the  decreasing  money."  It  then 
adds:  "The  mischief  which  practically  threatens  the 
world,  and  which  has  been  the  most  prolific  cause  of  the 
social,  political,  and  industrial  ills  which  have  afflicted 
it,  is  that  of  a  decreasing  and  deficient  money.  It  is  from 
such  a  deficiency  that  mankind  are  now  suffering,  and  it 
is  the  actual  and  present  evil  with  which  we  have  to  deal." 

"Money  is  power,"  says:  "The  immense  product  of 
California  and  Australian  mines  caused  the  value  of  gold 
to  fall  from  20  to  50  per  cent  from  1850  to  1855,  below 
that  of  1840  to  1848;  and  the  immense  consumption  of 
the  precious  metals  in  the  arts  during  the  last  few  years, 
has  appreciated  them  up  to  where  they  were." 

Jevons,  O.  in  S.  C.  says:  I.  "That  from  the  begin- 
ning of  the  revolutionary  troubles  in  South  America  in 
1809  to  the  opening  of  the  California  mines  in  1849  there 
was  a  continuous  rise  in  the  value  of  money,  and  a  cor- 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  279 

responding  fall  in  the  price  of  commodities — money  in- 
creased in  purchasing  power  during  that  period  145  per 
cent. 

2.  "That  after  the  year  1849  there  occurred  a  fall  on 
the  value  of  money  and  a  rise  in  the  price  of  commodities 
which  reached  their  maximum  about  1865.     During  this 
period  the  purchasing  power  decreased  15  per  cent. 

3.  "That  this  decrease  in  the  purchasing  power  of 
money  has  since  then  been  quite  overcome,  and  that  its 
command  over  property  is  at  least  as  great  as  it  was  in 
1849  and  very  much  greater  than  in  1809." 

Paper  is  to  be  the  money  of  the  future,  absolute  paper 
money.  This  is  philosophical  and  is  sustained  by  right 
reason.  Its  volume  can  be,  by  law,  maintained  at  a 
standard,  necessary  amount,  which  is  the  vital  point  in 
money  of  any  material.  The  volume  of  the  precious 
metals  cannot  be  kept  at  a  standard,  necessary  amount 
as  all  history  abundantly  attests.  Hence,  their  use  as  a 
medium  of  exchange  has  subjected  mankind  to  untold 
suffering  through  panics,  depressions  in  business  and  the 
engendering  of  almost  infinite  pauperism,  crime  and 
death. 

Paper  money,  paper  credit,  the  highest  view  of  money, 
has  shown  itself  the  grandest  medium  of  exchange  ever 
known.  Gold  and  silver  as  counters,  (so  called)  money, 
are  the  devise  of  pauperism  and  must  die  when  civiliza- 
tion advances  to  perfection. 

Gold  and  silver,  it  is  maintained,  by  those  who  hold 
the  hard  money  theory,  never  vary.  That  is:  While 
it  is  true,  say  they,  that  the  production  of  them  "may 
vary  at  times,"  yet  when  the  cause  of  the  ages  are  all 
taken  into  account,  it  is  found  that  their  production  has 
been  so  even  and  adjusted  that  they,  if  not  a  perfect 
standard,  are  the  best  that  has,  or  that  it  is  believed,  can 
be  found.  This  is  their  assumption. 

Now,  this  is  neither  philosophical  in  deduction  nor 
sound  in  right  reason.  It  is  a  proposition  when  stripped 
of  its  glitter  that  affirms  this,  namely :  That  two  of  the 
products  acquired  by  human  action,  suit  themselves  to 
and  are  the  just  measure  of  all  other  products  acquired 
by  human  action. 


280  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

The  perniciousness  of  this  monster  hypothesis  has 
never  been  realized  to  its  full  extent.  It  makes  of  these 
two  products  a  tyrant  that  in  the  hands  of  tyrants  has 
caused,  and  is  now  causing  more  suffering  to  the  human 
race  than  have  war,  famine  and  pestilence  combined. 

Money  is  not  nor  can  it  be  commodity.  Money  can- 
not be  produced  by  labor  as  commodities  are  produced 
by  labor.  Money,  as  an  entity,  is  purely  an  ideal  thing. 
It  is  the  exact  opposite  of  product ;  a  measure  of  products, 
not  itself  a  product,  as  an  adjuster  of  balances  it  is  ideal- 
ized equity,  pertains  exclusively  to  man,  is  wholly  un- 
known to  the  lower  orders.  Money  materialized  is  a 
creation  of  law,  devised  by  man  as  a  progressive,  intel- 
lectual, moral  being  to  help  him  in  the  enlargement  of  his 
material  interests.  Its  functions  are  to  aid  in  the  produc- 
tion of  more  wealth ;  to  aid  him  in  the  distribution  of 
more  wealth ;  to  aid  him  in  the  enjoyment  of  more  wealth 
— wealth  being  the  over-production  of  labor  or  the  sav- 
ings of  labor. 

Money  as  a  factor  is  one  of  the  grandest  discoveries 
of  the  human  mind ;  it  is  a  "thing,"  a  "tool,"  a  "measure," 
of  all  wealth,  but  is  not  wealth  itself. 

Money  as  a  "thing,"  a  "tool,"  a  "measure,"  becomes 
an  order  universal  for  commodities  and  services,  the 
medium  of  exchange. 

Money  known  by  its  "unit"  (a  dollar  with  us),  is  that 
"thing,"  that  "measure,"  that  "order-universal"  by  which 
man  measure  the  products  of  labor,  and  is  that  also  which 
inspires  labor  to  new  effort  and  fills  the  world  with  enter- 
prise. 

Money  in  its  use  as  an  agent,  when  reduced  to  form, 
is  simple.  It  is  the  "dollar"  that  buys ;  it  is  the  "dollar" 
that  pays,  regardless  of  the  material  of  which  it  is  com- 
posed. 

These  general  and  critical  propositions  are  abundantly 
sustained  by  the  best  thinkers  of  the  world.  Herbert  Spen- 
cer says :  "The  monetary  arrangements  of  any  commun- 
ity are  ultimately  dependent,  like  most  other  arrange- 
ments, on  the  morality  of  its  members.  Amongst  a  peo- 
ple altogether  dishonest  every  mercantile  transaction  must 
be  affected  in  coin  or  goods ;  for  promises  to  pay  cannot 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  281 

circulate  at  all  when,  by  the  hypothesis,  there  is  no  prob- 
ability that  they  will  be  redeemed.  Conversely,  amongst 
perfectly  honest  people,  paper  alone  will  form  the  cir- 
culating medium,  and  metallic  money  will  be  needless. 
Manifestly,  therefore,  during  any  intermediate  state  in 
which  men  are  neither  altogether  dishonest,  nor  alto- 
gether honest,  a  mixed  currency  will  exist ;  and  the  ratio 
of  paper  to  coin  will  vary  with  the  degree  of  trust  in- 
dividuals place  in  each  other."  Here  he  states  the  true 
distinction  that  exists  between  barter,  exchanging  one 
commodity  for  another  and  the  exchange  of  commodities 
by  means  of  the  use  of  money,  and  hinges  the  whole  sub- 
ject on  honesty  alone.  So  when  two  commodities  (gold 
and  silver)  are  set  up  for  the  "measure"  for  all  others ; 
made  the  "standard,"  then  the  dishonesty  of  such  a  mone- 
tary system  becomes  perilous  and  unbearable.  And  for 
that  reason  these  metals  ought  to  be  demonetized. 

David  Ricardo  says :  "A  regulated  paper  currency  is 
so  great  an  improvement  in  commerce  that  I  should 
greatly  regret  if  prejudice  should  induce  us  to  return  to 
a  system  of  less  utility.  The  introduction  of  the  precious 
metals  for  the  purposes  of  money  may  with  truth  be  con- 
sidered as  one  of  the  most  important  steps  toward  the 
improvement  of  commerce  and  the  arts  of  civilized  life. 
But  it  is  no  less  true  that,  with  the  advancement  of  knowl- 
edge and  science,  we  discover  that  it  would  be  another 
improvement  to  banish  them  again  from  the  employment 
to  which,  during  the  less  enlightened  period,  they  had 
been  so  advantageously  applied."  This  is  a  just  con- 
clusion, as  it  is  undoubtedly  true  that  legal  tender  paper 
money  is  the  kind  best  suited  to  the  operations  carried  on 
under  a  Christian  civilization.  Benjamin  Franklin  says : 
"Gold  and  silver  are  not  intrinsically  of  equal  value  with 
iron.  Their  value  rests  chiefly  in  the  estimation  they 
happen  to  be  in  among  the  generality  of  nations.  Any 
other  well  founded  credit  is  as  much  an  equivalent  as  gold 
or  silver.  Paper  money  well  founded  has  great  advan- 
tages over  gold  and  silver,  being  light  and  convenient 
for  handling  large  sums  and  not  likely  to  have  its  volume 
reduced  by  demand  for  exportation.  On  the  whole,  no 
method  has  hitherto  been  found  to  establish  a  medium 


282  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

of  trade  equal  in  all  its  advantages  to  bills  of  credit  made 
a  general  legal  tender." 

Here  the  great  philosopher  states  a  fact  in  support  of 
legal  tender  paper  money  that  we  would  do  well  to  heed. 
He  says  such  money  would  not  have  its  volume  changed 
by  exportation.  Hard  money  men  do  not  pretend  to 
answer  it. 

The  influx  of  gold  and  silver  into  a  country  is  not  an 
indication  of  true  healthiness  or  growing  wealth.  The 
"Mercantile  Theory"  of  a  hundred  years  ago  thought 
so.  The  exact  reverse  is  true,  and  therefore,  paper  money 
should  be  used  so  as  to  allow  and  encourage  exportation 
of  gold  and  silver. 

Maclead  says:  "According  to  the  crude  ideas  that 
were  generally  received  about  a  century  ago,  gold  and 
silver  were  almost  universally  considered  the  only  species 
of  wealth  and  it  was  considered  to  be  the  true  policy  of 
every  country  to  encourage  by  every  means  in  its  power 
the  influx  of  bullion  and  to  discourage  its  export;  and 
most,  if  not  all,  of  European  nations  have  gone  so  far,  at 
one  time  or  another,  as  to  prohibit  its  export.  The  profit 
of  foreign  commerce  was  estimated  solely  by  the  quantity 
of  gold  and  silver  it  brought  into  the  country,  and  the 
theory  of  commerce  appeared  to  be  reduced  to  a  general 
scramble  among  all  nations  to  see  which  could  draw  to 
itself  the  most  gold  and  silver  from  the  other.  Such 
is  the  principle  of  the  "Mercantile  Theory,"  it  being  held 
true  that  gold  and  silver  are  the  most  profitable  and 
desirable  objects  of  import.  The  direct  reverse  is  un- 
questionably true,  that  gold  and  silver  are,  of  all  objects 
of  commerce,  the  least  profitable." 

So  we  say  to-day,  let  both  gold  and  silver  go  out 
of  the  country  in  infinite  amount,  if  you  please ;  and  for 
them  let  those  articles  come  back  to  us  that  we  are  willing 
to  exchange  the  gold  and  the  silver  for. 

But  to  do  this  our  paper  money  must  not  be  "based" 
upon  them.  For  if  it  is,  when  your  "base"  goes  out  two 
things  happen ;  i,  your  money  (paper)  becomes  irredeem- 
able and  depreciates ;  2,  the  volume  of  coin  being  shrunk 
and  contracted  (in  this  country)  down  goes  prices  and 
panic  ensues. 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  283 

The  Bank  of  Venice  is  an  illustration  of  the  power  of 
paper  money  to  sustain  commerce  and  stability.  We 
quote:  'There  was  at  Venice  that  which,  more  than  any 
previous  commercial  policy,  opened  men's  eyes  to  an  ad- 
vantage of  great  importance,  contributing  alike  to  the 
prosperity  of  our  state  and  to  the  benefit  of  trade.  She 
was  the  glorious  inventress  of  the  guaranteed  bank,  dif- 
fering both  in  its  operations  and  its  security  from  com- 
mon banks  as  much  as  those  called  public  banks.  This 
very  efficient  made  of  adjustment,  discovered  and  used 
so  largely  at  this  early  period  in  the  history  of  commerce 
was  not  dependent  for  its  efficiency  on  the  guarantee  of 
the  public.  That  guarantee  sprung  out  of  the  mode  in 
which  the  bank  originated ;  this  convenient  mode  of  legis- 
lation came  from  the  use  of  the  new  substitute  for  money. 
The  facility  of  payment  furnished  by  the  bank  which 
made  it  the  admiration  of  Europe,  honorable  at  once  to 
the  government  and  merchants  of  Venice,  and  a  support 
to  the  pride  and  power  of  its  people,  consisted  in  substi- 
tuting as  a  medium  of  payments  the  debt  of  the  Republic 
for  current  coin.  This  system  of  payments  was  so  well 
adapted  to  the  exigencies  of  commerce,  that  it  lasted  for 
more  than  five  hundred  years,  until  destroyed  by  Na- 
poleon. And  these  paper  credits  ran  as  high  as  twenty 
per  centum  above  coin,  at  times." 

And  there  is  nothing  strange  about  this.  For  that 
mythic  thing  called  "par  value,"  is  a  fraud. 

"The  idea  of  par  value  between  coin  and  paper  is 
neither  a  philosophical  deduction,  nor  a  scientific  conclu- 
sion. On  the  contrary,  it  is  an  incident  of  a  vicious  money 
system;  the  offspring  of  class-law.  And  when  'par'  be- 
tween coin  and  paper  exists,  it  is  the  unmistakable  evi- 
dence that  a  robbery  by  law,  has  been  committed  on  the 
right  of  man  and  property." — Jomvi.  *  *  *  The  as- 
sumption that  one  kind  of  money  must  be  redeemed  in 
another  kind  of  money,  is  a  crime  against  the  right  of 
man  to  earn  his  bread  by  the  sweat  of  his  brow.  It  vio- 
lates philosophy  and  libels  science.  It  destroys  a  sense 
of  moral  obligation,  and  when  carried  to  its  ripe  fruitage, 
turns  the  temple  of  God  into  a  den  of  thieves. — The 
Money  Changers. 


284  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

Money — no  matter  of  what  material  composed — must 
be  redeemed  in  commodities  and  services,  or  it  is  wholly 
valueless  as  money,  and  it  needs  no  other  redemption  but 
in  commodities  and  services. — Moran  on  Money. 

The  theory  that  gold  and  silver  are  safe  money,  because 
they  will  be  good  in  the  event  of  the  government's  over- 
throw, is  not  true.  It  is  neither  philosophical  nor  scien- 
tific as  a  proposition.  Money  cannot  survive  the  downfall 
of  the  government  creating  it.  And  he  who  believes  that 
money  can  survive  the  death  of  the  government  stamping 
it  as  money  is  a  subject  of  delusion,  and  is  dreaming  out 
a  hiatus  of  mind,  contradicted  alike  by  reason,  science, 
philosophy  and  fact.  And  when  such  dreamer  affirms 
that  his  gold  and  silver  will  have  value  in  the  new  gov- 
ernment, he  only  affirms  that  which  pertains  alike  to 
his  corn  and  oil  and  wine.  They,  as  commodi- 
ties along  with  his  gold  and  his  silver,  as  com- 
modities, will  have  just  such  value  as  the  volume 
of  the  money  of  the  new  government  determines,  noth- 
ing more,  nothing  less.  Your  money,  as  such,  dies  with 
its  creator,  and  as  the  production  of  gold  and  silver  fluc- 
tuates as  much,  if  not  more,  than  any  other  two  articles, 
the  making  them  money  has  endangered  to  death  the 
governments  of  earth.  Nations  have  been  overthrown  by 
these  very  causes;  and  that  Christian  civilization,  is  now 
menaced  by  them.  Therefore,  in  the  language  of  Mr. 
Gillespie:  "He  who  would  plan  a  money  so  unfitted 
for  the  present,  in  the  vain  hope  that  it  would  survive 
the  death  of  the  country  ought  to  die  before  his  country." 
*  *  *  The  influx  or  reflux  of  gold  and  silver,  is  dan- 
gerous to  trade  and  commerce  and  produce  unsteadiness 
in  business.  Because  in  thus  moving  they  change  the 
money  volume  and  this  unsettles  business.  As  standard 
money,  gold  and  silver  are  the  prolific  parent  of  inflation 
and  contraction,  thereby  producing  panics,  as  inevitably 
and  certainly  as  do  decaying  vegetables  and  mushrooms, 
produce  disease. 

And  as  the  volume  of  the  money  other  things  equal,  is 
the  center  consideration,  to  even  trade  and  steady  prop- 
erty: gold  and  silver,  therefore,  are  unfit  agents,  either 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  285 

as  money,  or  as  commodities,  to  serve  as  the  circulating 
medium. 

Prof.  Walker  says:  "Other  things  equal,  the  general 
average  of  prices  is  determined  by  the  quantity  of  cur- 
rency in  circulation,  and  prices  advance  and  recede  as 
that  is  increased  or  diminished.  *  *  *  This  is  an 
economic  law  as  certain  as  any  of  the  laws  of  nature." 


'AN  APPEAL." 


FOR  JUST   MONEY  AND  HUMAN   RIGHTS. 


FOR    HONEST    CARRYING    AND    LABOR  S    RIGHTS. 


J.  HARPER,  DANVILLE,  ILL. 


The  Specie  basis  is  the  Crime  of  the  Nineteenth  Cen- 
tury. 

Paper  money  is  the  antidote  for  it. 

Transportation  by  Corporate — Monopoly,  is  the  Sin 
of  the  age. 

Government  ownership  of  Railroads,  is  the  antidote 
for  it. 

Ignatius  Donnelly,  says: 

"FROM  A  VETERAN. 


"The  Famous  Jesse  Harper,  Lincoln's  Friend,  Thinks 
the  Fight  was  Fought  on  the  Wrong  Issue. — The  Peo- 
ple's Party  Platform,  Shibboleth,  the  Specie  Basis  the 
Crime  of  the  Nineteenth  Century — Paper  Money  the 
Antidote." 
Editor  Representative,  Nov.  4,  1896. 

The  Farce  of  the  body  politic  in  the  election  of  the 
3rd  of  November,  emphasizes  the  saying: 

"And  all  of  our  yesterdays  have  lighted  fools — 
The  way  to  dusty  death." 

The  true  reformer  was  handicapped. 

"Fusion"  with  a  party  that  looks  your  way,  but  walks 
the  other  way,  shows  a  lack  of  Sense. 


286  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

"Fusion"  with  a  party  to  make  paper  money,  legal 
tender  for  everything — the  kind  you  want;  but  to  be  re- 
deemed in  Coin,  which  you  do  not  want — To  join  this 
kind  of  "fusion"  is  to  confess  yourself  a  Janus — having 
two  faces. 

This  kind  of  "fusion"  leaves  the  option  to  the  smaller 
party — "bolt"  or  be  "swallowed." 

This  kind  of  "fusion"  is  the— "Three  Tailors  of 
Tooley,"  over  again. 

This  is  "fusion"  Redivivus  Ridiculwn. 

This  is  the  day  that  revives  chivalry,  and  untombs 
the  knight  of  300  years  ago,  drawn  by  Cervantes,  and 
known  as  wide  as  earth,  Don  Quixote  the  First,  who  rep- 
resented the  "fools"  of  his  age,  as  fully  as  "Fusion" 
does  the  "Knaves"  of  the  present. 

Don,  away  back  there,  seated  on  his  war  horse,  Rosi- 
nante,  followed  by  his  faithful  Sancho,  on  his  ass — 
charged  the  "Wind  Mills"  for  the  space  of  a  day,  and 
the  "mills"  withstood  the  charge  and  smiled.  And  now, 
in  the  Knight  errantry  for  the  "precious  metals,"  Don 
Quixote,  Second,  mounted  on  Balaam's  "Horse,"  Cap-a- 
pie,  from  head  to  foot,  shout — "Silver  the  issue" — fol- 
lowed by  his  faithful  Sancho,  on  his  ass,  the  twain 
braying,  "Subordinate  everything  to  'remonetizing'  sil- 
ver." They  assault  the  "Gold  bug  wind  mill" — the  other 
half  of  the  false  basis. 

And  the  "mills"  as  in  the  case  of  Don  First,  withstood 
the  assault  and  laughed  at  the  push  on  gold. 

And  as  the  scattered,  scar-worn  victims  of  the  "silver 
alone  issue"  gathered  their  spoils  from  the  ensanguined 
field  and  possessed  themselves  of  the  wealth,  wrested 
from  the  enemy — it  was  found  they  had  the  "issues"  and 
the  enemy  had  the  "offices,"  and  with  them,  much  goods 
laid  up  for  many  years.  Selah. 

And  the  wail  comes  up  from  the  three  headed  head- 
quarters. 

"The  harvest  is  past  and  the  Summer  is  ended  and 
we  are  not  saved."  Ah,  hah. 

And  a  lie  enticed  Ahab,  and  he  was  slain  at  Ramoth- 
gelead  (which  is  Wall  street),  with  a  "Single  issue" — 
a  lie.  *  *  * 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  287 

"And  they  have  cast  lots  for  my  people,  and  have  given 
a  boy  for  a  harlot  and  a  girl  for  wine,  that  they  might 
drink."  Thus  spoke  the  Hebrew  prophet  as  the  Jewish 
state  met  its  death  at  the  hands  of  hypocrites,  extor- 
tioners and  usurers. 

Political  chicanery  boasted  of  prosperity,  while  the 
poor  died  of  want. 

Ecclesiastical  Jesuitism  boasted  of  religious  converts, 
while  Lazarus  lay  at  Dives'  gate  ministered  to  by  dogs. 

The  rich  grew  richer. 

The  poor  grew  poorer. 

Boodle  takes  the  place  of  principle,  slander  the  place 
of  truth. 

Facts  are  ignored. 

Politicians  riot  in  grossness. 

Mendacity  triumphs. 

Pilot  and  Herod  are  agreed. 

The  Christ  of  humanity  is  crucified  between  two  polit- 
ical thieves.  The  saints  and  sinners  divide  the  spoils ; 

And  thus  the  covenant  with  death  and  hell  is  confirmed. 
*     *     * 

Railroads,  telegraphs,  lands,  debts,  banks,  money,  oil 
mines — all  these  have  been  run  in  the  interest  of  class. 

"False  clamour  is  falsehood." 

Put  the  fight  on  ground  where  truth  and  justice,  and 
God  can  support  it. 

Inaugurate  and  encourage  a  policy  to  enable  each  fam- 
ily to  secure  a  home — 

Actual  occupancy  and  use  to  be  the  title. 

Paying  for  it  only  the  cost  of  setting  it  off  from  the 
public  domain. 

"Paper  money  is  to  be  the  money  of  the  future ;  abso- 
lute paper  money." — Moran. 

Let  Money  vs.  Credit  be  the  war  cry,  as  the  iQth  cen- 
tury goes  out  and  the  2oth  century  is  born  to  the  new 
life. 

With  a  Bible,  a  constitution  and  money;  all  stamped 
on  paper — all  reflexes  from  the  heart.  A  flag  stamped 
on  silk,  the  emblem  of  country — all  standing  on  the 
;  God's  footstool  and  man's  home. 


288  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

Mankind  can  have  enough  paper  money.  It  cannot 
have  enough  of  the  two  metals. 

"Truth  against  the  world."    (Motto  of  the  Kumree.) 

From  this  level  of  God's  engineering  let  us  call  to  the 
rich,  not  alone  in  warning,  but  in  love,  as  brother  men. 

Note. — For  nearly  five  months  no  effort  that  I  could 
put  forth,  has  been  spared  in  the  cause  of  justice  and 
humanity.  I  worked  in  season  and  out  of  season,  with 
all  my  intellectual,  moral  and  physical  powers,  to  secure 
the  election  of  Wm.  J.  Bryan  and  Thomas  E.  Watson, 
seeing  all  the  time  the  false  issue  that  inhered  in  our 
cause — metal  money,  a  double  candidate,  a  double  plat- 
form, making  a  political  lie. 

Turn  to  the  Omaha  Platform,  of  1892,  which  is  the 
first  born  political  child  of  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence; and  when  utilized,  life,  liberty  and  happiness  will 
be  a  verity. 

Turn  from  the  mis-rule  of  political  despotism,  be- 
cause the  trend  of  the  struggle  is : 

TO  CENTRALIZE. 

Abolish  the  debt  Moloch. 

"A  contrivance  against  divine  law  and  human  reason." 
Abolish  the  "bank  of  issue"  demon. 

"It  coins  the  sweat  of  labor  into  gold — for  Tyrants" 
— by  interest. 

To  Shrink  the  volume  and  leave  the  debt  status  quo  is 
Robbery. 

In  doing  it  the  government  makes  itself  the  Comple- 
ment of  the  Crime. 

This  tabernacle  of  Mammon  is  built  on: 

The  non-right  of  money, 

The  non-right  of  transportation, 

And  the  wrong  use  of  the  Public  Domain. 

The  record  of  the  past  must  be  changed. 

Stop  modern  God-robbing — by  Robbing  his  children. 

William  the  Conqueror  stole  England. 

His  descendants  are  stealing  the  world. 

The  Republic  condones  the  crime  and  aids  the  larceny. 

Stop  framing  iniquity  into  law. 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  289 

Stop  the  infamy  of  redeeming  one  "money"  with  an- 
other "money." 

Stop  swapping  "dollars" — it  is  a  duplicate  of  selling 
Christ  for  silver. 

Make: 

A  graduated  income  tax,  beginning  above  one  thou- 
sand dollars. 

Exempt  such  home  of  the  family  from  all  taxation  and 
liens  of  any  sort 

To  the  amount  of  one  thousand  dollars. 

Natural  gifts  in  the  earth  common  to  the  race,  bene- 
ficial to  all  men,  to  be  under  the  control  of  the  govern- 
ment and  open  to  all — for  the  benefit  of  all  the  people. 

The  government  to  hold  all  unoccupied  land  for  homes 
only. 

Homes  to  be  acquired  at  the  minimum  cost  of  allot- 
ting them. 

Each  to  acquire  homes  on  the  same  terms — necessary 
quantity. 

As  Public  Domain. 

While  thus  situate,  if  any  wish  to  use  it  for  the 
grasses,  or  any  other  appendage,  so  as  not  to  injure  it, 
let  them  use  it,  paying  a  stipulated  price,  the  money  to 
go  into  the  public  treasury  for  the  benefit  of  all. 

To  induce  those  holding  large  grants  to  surrender  them 
to  the  people,  to  again  become  public  domain,  tax  them 
double  the  value  of  land  used  for  homes. 

Make  it  impossible  to  hold  land  for  speculative  pur- 
poses. 

Statutes  of  justice  and  decrees  of  equity  will  not  tol- 
erate, 

Land  speculation  of  cultivatable  soil  that  is  rural. 

This  policy  would  decentralize  land,  increase  homes 
and  diffuse  happiness. 

A  non-resident  alien  should  not  own  land  in  this  coun- 
try. Land  should  not  have  been  sold  to  them. 

Change  the  rule. 

Give  them  a  reasonable  notice  to  sell  their  lands. 

If  they  refuse,  then  the  government  shall  pay  them  a 


290  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

reasonable  price  for  their  lands  and  turn  these  into  the 
public  domain. 

All  of  these  lands  to  be  public  domain  except  those  oc- 
cupied as  homes. 

EQUIVALENCY    OF    EXCHANGE. 

That  which  you  cannot  produce  at  all,  get  of  those  who 
do,  on  terms  as  advantageous  as  possible  to  both. 

That  which  you  have  the  greatest  surplus  of,  get  off 
on  terms  of  like  character. 

Having  thus  reciprocated,  in  the  two  extremes — where 
you  had  all  and  where  you  had  nothing — the  inside  will 
adjust  to  these  outside  extremes. 

The  nations  over  against  you  do  the  same  thing,  and 
thus  the  world  fraternizes. 

These  peaceful  regulations  go  on  till  arbitration  takes 
the  place  of  force,  and  earth  becomes  an  empire  of  peace. 

Here  is  broad  ground,  to  which  the  humanites  in  every 
nation  are  looking — 

And  the  grandest  names  on  earth  are  bending  their 
energies  to  effect  the  blessed  state — a  world  disarmed! 

Arbitration  the  law  of  nations,  instead  of  the  law  of 
force. 

The  world  thus  regulated, 

Society  thus  harmonized,  would  at  last  blend  in  UNI- 
VERSAL BROTHERHOOD. 

Interest  on  money  is  murdering  the  world ;  it  is  a  crime 
against  the  human  race.  Strike  it  to  death. 

RAILROADS. 

All  railroad  charters  should  be  repealed.  And  the 
roads  valued  and  paid  for  to  the  now  owners,  and  then 
operated  by  the  government  as — 

THE  RAIL  AND  WATER  CARRYING  DEPART- 
MENT— the  same  as  any  other  department,  with  a  cabi- 
net officer. 

Allowing  the  owners  now  to  retain  five-eighths  of  their 
value  as  an  investment. 

Paying  them  out  of  the  earnings  three  per  cent  per  an- 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  291 

num  till  final  liquidation  and  full  ownership  by  the  peo- 
ple. 

The  roads  to  be  run  at  cost  of  operating. 

That  is,  a  schedule  of  prices  to  be  paid  by  the  people 
for  their  use, 

Sufficient  in  amount  to  pay  the  interest,  while  needed ; 
sinking  fund  and  running  expenses. 

THE   MONEY. 

The  money  should  all  be  issued  by  the  government  and 
made  full  legal  tender  for  all  purposes.  It  should  be  suffi- 
cient in  volume  to  do  all  the  business  of  the  country 
without  the  intervention  of  credit,  on  cash,  strictly.  It 
should  be  stamped  on  material  of  the  least  possible  com- 
mercial value  consistent  with  fair  durability — on  paper. 
It  should  be  furnished  at  the  cost  of  making  and  is- 
suing. It  should  be  redeemable  in  labor  and  commodities 
only,  thus  making  its  use  among  the  people  perpetual. 
It  should  be  put  in  circulation  through  national  deposi- 
tories, situate  at  the  seat  of  government,  the  state  capitals 
and  county  seats.  In  detail:  ,.It  should  be  secured  by 
land  and  products,  returnable  at  any  time,  by  the  holder, 
to  the  depository. 

How  the  people  get  the  money  is  shown  in  every  detail 
in  my  book,  "Land,  Transportation  and  Money." 

Land,  Transportation  and — Money?  It  was  out  early 
in  1896  in  support  of  the  principles  of  the  Omaha  plat- 
form. But  there  was  not  much  of  that  platform  in  the 
late  campaign  "on  money  with  the  money  left  out."  To 
illustrate:  Suppose  the  "Money  Question"  is  One  Bushel. 
"Silver"  is  about  one  quart  of  the  whole  make-up,  and 
better  left  out  than  put  in. 

For  the  "Metal  Money  System"  is  infinitely  small  when 
compared  with  the  full  humanities  of  our  Omaha  plat- 
form. 

"Silver  alone"  as  an  "issue"  is  a  fiasco — failure. 

In  1896  it  was  three-headed.  The  mountain  was  in  tra- 
vail and  brought  forth  a  mouse. 

I  want  to  get  my  book  with  real  reform  papers.  For, 
while  I  am  young  and  inexperienced,  I  know  that  true 


292  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

reform  papers  are  scarce  as  perpetual  food  in  the  happy 
hunting  grounds  of  the  Mythic  Valambrosia ;  or  53-cent 
dollars  with  the  masses. 

1.  We  have  those  who  believe  in  a  single  gold  stand- 
ard. 

2.  Those  who  believe  in  a  gold  and  silver  standard 
combined. 

3.  Both  holding  in  their  platform  that  paper  money 
must  be  issued,  convertible  into  "coin"  at  the  option  of 
the  holder,  to  make  the  volume  "ample  to  do  the  business 
of  the  country." 

We  know  that  it  is  the  volume  of  the  money  that  regu- 
lates prices — hence  the  crime  of  demonetizing  silver  to 
lessen  its  volume. 

It  was  a  measure  to  contract  the  volume. 

Gold  and  silver  both  gives  the  larger  volume. 

Therefore  both  should  be  used  to  the  fullest  extent — 
till  both  are  abandoned. 

For  they  are  wholly  insufficient  to  supply  the  amount 
of  money  needed  by  the  people  to  do  the  business  of  the 
country. 

This  is  the  whole  of  it  in  a  nut-shell. 

The  peril  to  our  institutions  is  .appalling,  and  only 
those  who  are  willing  to  say  "give  me  liberty  or  give  me 
death,"  will  be  able  to  abide  the  fury  of  the  onset  of  mon- 
archy. All  of  us  who  have  stood  for  a  true  money  system, 
paper,  for  the  past  years  will  continue  the  fight.  Those 
who  put  "success"  above  principle  will  leave  us.  We 
are  at  the  critical  point.  We  must  go  forward.  Here  is 
the  way: 

Paper  Money  vs.  Metal  Money  is  the  just  system.  Peo- 
ple's ownership,  through  government,  of  all  public  fran- 
chises vs.  corporate  ownership  of  sovereignties,  through 
law  by  individuals  or  companies  of  individuals.  The  peo- 
ple to  affirm  by  direct  vote  every  law  before  it  becomes 
operative. 

Give  the  people  a  chance  by  law  to  enjoy  the  increment 
of  their  labor. 

Hear  the  Divine  Ruler's  voice : 

"Come  now,  you  rich,  weep  and  lament  over  those  mis- 
eries of  yours  which  are  approaching. 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  293 

"Your  rich  stores  have  decayed,  and  your  garments 
have  become  moth-eaten. 

"Your  gold  and  silver  have  become  rusted,  and  the  rust 
on  them  will  be  for  a  testimony  against  you,  and  will 
consume  your  bodies  like  fire.  You  have  laid  up  treas- 
ures for  the  last  days. 

"Behold,  that  hire,  which  you  fraudulently  withheld 
from  those  laborers  who  harvested  your  field,  and  the 
loud  cries  of  the  reapers  have  entered  the  ears  of  the  Lord 
of  Armies."  J.  HARPER. 

Danville,  111.,  Nov.  4,  1896. 


HARPER  ON  INCOME  TAX. 

"MIGHTY"  LAWYERS  WITH  THE  GREAT  MASSES — HE  QUOTES 
ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  ON  THE  SUPREME  COURT. 

The  majority  stand  for  tyranny. 
The  minority  for  liberty. 
"This  is  the  paradox  of  courts." 
When  new  questions  come  to  the  front. 

The  "great"  lawyers  take  the  side  of  tyranny,  and  the 
"mighty"  lawyers  take  the  side  of  liberty.  And  the 
people,  rally  to  the  support  of  the  "mighty"  advocates  of 
humanity,  till  their  names  become  halos,  and  the  principles 
they  contend  for  become  fixed  as  truth. 

We  have  had  three  onsets  in  the  past,  and  the  fourth 
is  on. 

Our  first  great  struggle  was  the  "war  of  the  banks," 
from  Washington  to  Jackson.  The  second  was  the  "Dred 
Scott  Decision" — a  decision  "that  sent  a  system  to  ruin 
that  it  meant  to  save."  The  third  was  the  "Income  Tax 
of  the  war" — that  gave  us  bread  to  feed  the  heroes  in 
blue,  and  the  fourth — "The  Income  Tax,  lately  deceased 
at  the  hands  of  the  Supreme  Court." 

These  two  count  as  one. 

All  these  decisions  were  made  by  a  divided  court,  which 
claimed  for  its  mandates  "obedience"  and  "silence."  To 
speak  against  them  was  to  outlaw  yourself  and  be  classed 


294  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

as  an  enemy  to  your  country  and  its  constitution,  an  up- 
rooter  of  all  law,  a  monster.  "An  opposer  of  the  major- 
ity." And  after  all  this  "fuss"  led  in  by  "great"  lawyers 
as  to  the  "majority"  decision, 

The  "minority"  decision,  the  outgrowth  of  brain  and 
heart,  became  the  rule  upon  which  liberty  rested,  and  the 
"great"  lawyers  went  to  "Urup."  And  so  it  will  be  now. 

Let  us  look  at  the  record  and  see  if  there  were  not  some 
men,  not  "pretended"  men,  who  called  the  Supreme  Court 
in  question.  Let  us  see  if  the  "minority"  have  not  called 
the  "majority"  in  question,  in  language  that  literally  anni- 
hilates them  and  the  "great"  lawyers,  "the  backers."  And 
these  magi  in  silencing  these  so-called  "courts"  laid  the 
foundation  of  liberty  more  firmly  and  widened  the  high- 
way of  Christian  civilization. 

And  in  doing  it  planted  themselves  as  beacon  lights  for 
the  ages. 

In  1791  Congress  decided  in  favor  of  a  bank;  in  1811 
Congress  decided  against  a  bank. 

One  Congress  in  1815  decided  against  a  bank  and  an- 
other in  1816  decided  in  favor  of  a  bank.  Here  are  con- 
gressional precedents  on  both  sides. 

Hear  Andrew  Jackson: 

"It  is  maintained  by  the  advocates  of  the  bank  that  its 
constitutionality,  in  all  its  features,  ought  to  be  considered 
Court.  To  this  I  cannot  assent.  Mere  precedent  is  a  dan- 
gerous source  of  authority,  and  should  not  be  regarded  as 
gerous  source  of  authority,  and  should  not  be  regarded  as 
deciding  questions  of  constitutional  power,  except  where 
the  acquiescence  of  the  people  and  the  states  can  be  con- 
sidered as  well  settled.  *  *  *  Prior  to  the  present 
Congress,  therefore,  the  precedents  drawn  from  that 
source  were  equal.  If  we  resort  to  the  states,  the  expres- 
sions of  legislative,  judicial  and  executive  opinion  against 
the  bank  have"  been  probably  fourfold.  There  is  nothing 
in  precedent,  therefore,  which,  if  its  authority  were  ad- 
mitted, ought  to  weigh  in  favor  of  the  act  before  me." 

The  Supreme  Court,  the  same  one  we  have  now,  once 
decided  a  national  bank  to  be  constitutional,  but  this  same 
General  Jackson  sat  down  on  the  court  and  the  decision 
and  all  the  "great"  lawyers  backing  the  bank,  and  he  sat 


Life  of  Col.  ^esse  Harper.  295 

down  with  the  people,  and  the  "mighty"  lawyers  who  were 
for  the  people. 

It  was  said  the  bank  charter  was  similar  to  the  Bank  of 
England,  the  "mother  of  banks."  That  saying  likely  en- 
raged the  General,  for,  once  upon  a  time,  down  toward 
the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  he,  with  a  goodly  number 
of  his  countrymen  who  wore  "home-made  shoes"  and 
"common  clothes,"  had  made  up  their  minds  to  wallop 
England,  and  a  certain  "governor,"  who  was  in  love 
with  Britain  and  wanted  to  go  to  "Urup,"  stood  in  the 
governor's  way.  He  drew  a  rawhide  and  gave  the  "gov- 
ernor" a  good  welting  and  then  thrashed  Packingham  till 
he  cried  "enough,"  and  then  the  people  elected  him — "Old 
Hickory" — President,  and  he  "set"  down  on  a  bank  and 
said: 

"If  these  important  decisions  had  been  made  with  the 
unanimous  concurrence  of  the  judges,  and  without  any 
apparent  partisan  bias,  *  *  *  and  had  been  before 
the  court  and  affirmed  and  reaffirmed,  then  it  would  be  a 
precedent  to  be  respected.  *  *  *  If  the  opinion  of 
the  court  covered  the  whole  ground  of  this  act,  it  ought 
not  to  control  the  co-ordinate  authorities  of  the  govern- 
ment. 

"Congress,  the  executive  and  the  court,  must  each  for 
itself  be  guided  by  its  own  opinion  of  the  constitution. 
Each  public  officer  who  takes  an  oath  to  support  the  con- 
stitution, swears  that  he  will  support  it  as  he  understands 
it  and  not  as  it  is  understood  by  others." 

A  divided  court  cannot  give  the  opinion  of  the  whole 
court,  so  as  to  stop  dicussion,  as  to  which  side  is  right. 

And  from  1840  to  1860  the  Democratic  party  stood  on 
the  Jackson  platform  of  the  unconstitutionally  of  national 
banks.  At  the  time  of  that  eventful  day  it  straggled  into 
the  jungles  of  the  "hunger  mud,"  and  there  among 
"horned  frogs"  and  "flat-headed  snakes"  wandered  in  con- 
tempt. But  in  1896  it  got  back  to  the  ground  of  the 
Fathers,  and  the  Chicago  end  of  it  came  out  flat-footed 
against  national  banks  and  said  plainly  that  it  would  take 
silver,  such  as  Washington  had  given  us,  stay  at  home 
and  not  go  to  "Urup." 

The  other  end  of  the  party  wandered  off  into  the  moun- 


296  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

tains  of  "Heipsedam,"  where  the  "English  lion"  roareth 
and  is  engaged  in  herding  the  "golden  calf;"  and  they 
give  notice  that  if  the  people  undertake  to  run  the  govern- 
ment that  they  will  "take  any  office  that  has  a  fixed  sal- 
ary." Shirach. 

"Dred  Scott." — A  great  philanthropist  said  of  the  de- 
cision: "It  is  infamous,  and  affirms  pro  forma  that  a 
black  man  has  no  rights  that  a  white  man  is  bound  to  re- 
spect." 

"That  decision  declares  that  a  negro  cannot  sue  in  the 
United  States  courts."  Lincoln,  the  "mighty"  lawyer. 

The  constitution  formed  to  "establish  justice,  insure 
domestic  tranquility  and  secure  the  blessings  of  liberty 
to  ourselves  and  posterity,"  "that  instrument,"  the  "great" 
lawyer  says,  "does  not  allow  courts  organized  under  it  to 
be  open  to  black  men." — Douglas.  The  black  man  shall 
not  have  his  "day  in  court,"  where  the  accused  and  ac- 
cuser, face  to  face,  there  determine  who  has  justice  on  his 
side. 

The  government,  formed  to  establish  justice,  by  the  ipse 
dixit  of  the  Supreme  Court,  closed  its  courts  against  the 
black  man — Semper  dictatum  inferna — "always  a  dictum 
infernal." 

He  who  has  been  beaten,  the  blood  pouring  from  the 
wounded  body,  shall  not  be  heard  when  the  Supreme 
Court  says  he  shall  not.  Listen : 

"Great"  lawyers  say  if  any  one  questions  the  "decision" 
he  is  an  enemy  of  his  country,  an  enemy  of  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  country,  "a  red-handed  anarchist." 

Hear  the  "great"  lawyer,  Douglas : 

"The  courts  are  the  tribunals  prescribed  by  the  consti- 
tution and  created  by  the  authority  of  the  people  to  deter- 
mine, expound  and  enforce  the  law.  Hence,  whoever  re- 
sists the  final  decision  of  the  highest  judicial  tribunals 
aims  a  deadly  blow  to  our  whole  republican  system  of  gov- 
ernment— a  blow  which  if  successful  would  place  all  our 
rights  and  liberties  at  the  mercy  of  passion,  anarchy  and 
violence.  I  repeat,  therefore,  that  if  resistance  to  the  de- 
cisions of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  in  a 
matter  like  the  points  decided  in  the  Dred  Scott  case, 
clearly  within  the  jurisdiction  as  defined  in  the  constitu- 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  297 

tion,  shall  be  forced  upon  the  country  as  a  political  issue, 
it  will  become  a  distinct  and  marked  issue  between  the 
friends  and  enemies  of  the  constitution — the  friends  and 
the  enemies  of  the  supremacy  of  law." 

The  same  spirit  that  inspired  the  "great"  lawyer  to  pen 
the  foregoing,  inspired  the  "great"  lawyer  to  write  the 
following : 

"Humanity  overcame  the  first,  and  humanity  will  over- 
come the  second." 

Hear  him  (Harrison)  : 

"You  are  to  answer,  then,  my  fellow  citizens,  in  all  the 
gravity  of  a  great  crisis,  whether  you  will  sustain  a  party 
that  proposes  to  destroy  the  balance  which  our  fathers 
instituted  in  our  system  of  government,  and  whenever  a 
tumultuous  Congress  disagrees  with  the  Supreme  Court 
and  a  subservient  President  is  in  the  White  House,  that 
the  judgment  of  the  court  shall  be  reconsidered  and  re- 
versed by  increasing  the  number  of  judges  and  packing 
the  court  with  men  who  will  decide  as  Congress  wants 
them  to.  I  cannot  exaggerate  the  gravity,  and  the  im- 
portance, and  the  danger  of  this  assault  upon  our  constitu- 
tional form  of  government." 

What  a  Boreas — another  god  of  wind — is  Harrison. 
Here  a  government  is  formed  to  protect  us  in  our  life, 
liberty  and  property ;  each  thus  protected,  to  bear  the  ex- 
act ratio  of  burden  to  his  protection.  Yet  the  claim  is 
made  that  a  certain  class,  equal  beneficiaries  in  protection, 
shall  not  be  equal  in  burden  bearing,  and  call  upon  the 
court  and  the  "great"  lawyers  to  aid  them  in  their  release 
from  equal  burden  bearing. 

Remember  in  passing  that  "resistance  to  tyrants  is  obe- 
dience to  God." 

Here  "resistance"  is  plain  and  is  used  in  its  proper  and 
just  sense. 

No  one  is  "resisting"  the  court,  as  these  apologists  for 
a  false  interpretation  of  the  constitution  are  asserting. 

The  great  party  and  the  great  names  in  that  party  that 
Douglas  was  sliming  were  not  "resisting"  the  Supreme 
Court.  And  the  great  party  and  the  great  names  in  that 
party  that  Harrison  is  sliming  are  not  "resisting"  the  Su- 
preme Court. 


298  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 


INCOME  TAX  CASE. 

They"  in  each  case  are  opposing  the  opinion  as  not  being 
constitutional  law,  are  arguing  against  its  soundness, 
speaking  against  its  false  deductions  and  wrong  conclu- 
sions, as  they  have  a  right  to  speak,  and  have  the  decision 
changed,  overruled,  as  the  people  shall  determine. 

The  minority  of  the  court  in  the  Dred  Scott  case  were 
not  resisting  the  decision,  but  giving  an  opinion  against 
the  majority  of  the  court,  that  sank  it  to  endless  oblivion 
with  the  "great"  lawyers  that  backed  it.  And  the  judges 
of  the  minority  of  the  court  in  the  Income  Tax  case  are 
not  resisting  the  court,  but  giving  an  opinion  that  will 
consign  the  majority  opinion  to  an  equally  deep  oblivion 
with  the  "great"  lawyers  that  back  it. 

The  Dred  Scott  decision  was  made  in  the  interest  of  the 
slave  holder  who  denied  the  right  of  liberty  and  happi- 
ness to  the  black  man. 

The  Income  Tax  decision  was  made  in  the  interest  of 
monopoly,  that  is  now  threatening  the  liberty  and  happi- 
ness of  both  the  black  and  the  white  man. 

Douglas  failed  to  uphold  his  Supreme  Court  dictum, 
and  Harrison  will  be  equally  powerless  to  uphold  his. 

All  power  is  inherent  in  the  people.  They  are  above  the 
three  co-ordinate  branches  of  the  government ;  are  above 
the  constitution ;  are  sovereign ;  can  change  all,  constitu- 
tions, decisions  and  laws,  and  do  justice  to  all.  In  doing 
justice  they  changed  the  "Dred"  decision,  and  in  doing 
justice  to  all  they  will  change  the  "Tax"  decision. 

To  proclaim  that  they  who  are  opposing  the  soundness 
in  law  of  a  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  are  resisting, 
as  using  force,  is  applying  the  word  in  a  false  sense  to  de- 
ceive and  mislead  the  people. 

And  the  men  who  do  it  are  the  real  anarchists.  The 
little  "two-penny  liners"  of  the  Douglas  day  that  re-echoed 
the  "stuff"  from  the  mouth  of  the  "boss"  were  a  fraud. 

And  the  petty  2x4  editors  now  who  ring  out  the  song  of 
their  "bosses,"  are  as  far  aside  from  the  justice  that  the 
government  was  formed  to  establish,  as  is  the  wild  Mos- 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  299 

lem  shouting  "Allah"  to  whet  his  appetite  for  Christian 
blood. 

What  has  been  said  aforetime  by  "mighty"  lawyers  on 
this  Supreme  Court  affair?  Keep  very  quiet,  bull  and 
bear.  Why,  this  same  Supreme  Court  once  decided  a  na- 
tional bank  to  be  constitutional,  but  General  Jackson, 
as  President  of  the  United  States,  disregarded  the  decision 
and  vetoed  a  bill  for  a  re-charter,  partly  on  constitutional 
ground,  declaring  that  each  public  functionary  must  sup- 
port the  constitution  as  he  understands  it. — Lincoln. 

And  this  very  same  Judge  Douglas  glorified  Jackson 
with  a  "great"  lawyer's  glory — said  the  hero  of  New  Or- 
leans did  right  in  refusing  to  abide  the  decision  of  a  court 
that  ignored  the  constitution,  and  set  up  in  its  place  a 
court  ipse  dixit.  H. 

Now  mark :  This  same  man,  so-called,  gloated  over  the 
total  disregard — tramping  out  the  decision  of  the  Supreme 
Court — by  an  ipse  dixit;  shouting,  everybody  has  a  right 
to  talk  against  it  and  set  down  on  it.  And  this  is  Douglas. 
H. 

But  when  another  decision  is  in  the  interest  of  those  he 
serves  and  he  wants  political  service  in  turn  as  pay,  then 
the  decision  becomes  sacred,  and  agitation  to  reverse  it  is 
anarchy.  If  this  sacred  decision  that  I  want  to  stand 
"shall  be  forced  upon  the  country  as  a  political  issue  it 
will  become  a  distinct  and  naked  issue  between  the  friends 
and  enemies  of  the  constitution." — Douglas. 

"Judge  Douglas  claims  the  right  to  defend  the  Dred 
Scott  decision.  I  claim  the  right  to  show  that  it  over- 
rides the  constitution." — Lincoln. 

"It  would  be  interesting  for  him  (Douglas)  to  look  over 
his  recent  speeches  and  see  how  exactly  his  fierce  phillip- 
pics  against  us  for  resisting  Supreme  Court  decisions  fall 

upon  his  own  head." — Lincoln. 

*     *     *     * 

"It  will  call  to  mind  a  long  and  fierce  political  war  in 
this  country  upon  an  issue  which,  in  his  own  language, 
and,  of  course,  in  his  own  changeless  estimation,  was  a 
'distinct  issue  between  the  friends  and  the  enemies  of 
the  constitution/  and  in  which  war  he  (Douglas)  fought 


3oo  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

in  the  ranks  of  the  enemies  of  the  constitution." — Lin- 
coln. 

Here  the  "mighty"  lawyer  nailed  the  "Little  Giant" 
down,  boxed  forever.  Douglas  charged  Lincoln  with  re- 
sisting the  Dred  Scott  decision,  which  made  him  an  enemy 
of  the  constitution,  an  anarchist. 

"But  in  the  bank  war  Douglas  fought  in  company  with 
the  enemies  of  the  country." — Lincoln. 

"And  now  to  the  Dred  Scott  case.  It  was  made  by  a  di- 
vided court.  Judge  Douglas  does  not  discuss  the  merits 
of  the  decision  in  that  respect  here.  I  shall  follow  his 
example,  believing  I  could  no  more  impose  on  McClane 

and  Curtis  than  he  could  on  Taney." — Lincoln. 
*     *     *     * 

"We  believe  as  much  as  Judge  Douglas  (perhaps  more) 
in  the  obedience  to  and  respect  for  the  judicial  depart- 
ment of  the  government.  *  *  *  But  we  think  the 
Dred  Scott  decision  is  erroneous.  We  know  that  the  court 
that  made  it  has  often  overruled  its  own  decisions  and  we 
shall  do  all  we  can  to  have  it  overrule  this.  We  offer  no 
resistance  to  it." — Lincoln. 

There  is  where  the  great  party  that  opposes  the  Income 
Tax  decision  stands — is  going  to  do  all  it  can  to  have  it 
overruled — not  resist  it.  Mr.  Lincoln,  measuring  the 
scope  of  this  fearful  Dred  Scott  decision  on  the  black 
man,  said: 

"In  those  days  our  Declaration  of  Independence  was 
held  sacred  by  all,  and  thought  to  include  all ;  but  now,  to 
aid  in  making  the  bondage  of  the  negro  universal  and 
eternal,  it  is  assailed,  sneered  at,  misconstrued,  hawked 
at  and  torn,  till,  if  its  framers  could  rise  from  their 
graves,  they  could  not  at  all  recognize  it.  All  the  powers 
of  earth  seem  rapidly  combining  against  him.  Mammon 
is  after  him,  ambition  follows,  philosophy  follows,  and 
the  theology  of  the  day  is  fast  joining  the  cry.  They  have 
him  in  his  prison  house ;  they  have  searched  his  person, 
and  left  no  prying  instrument  with  him.  One  after  an- 
other they  have  closed  the  heavy  iron  doors  upon  him, 
and  now  they  have  him,  as  it  were,  bolted  in  with  a  lock 
of  a  hundred  keys,  which  can  never  be  unlocked  without 
the  concurrence  of  every  key;  the  keys  in  the  hands  of 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  301 

a  hundred  different  men,  and  they  scattered  to  a  hundred 
different  and  distinct  places ;  and  they  stand  thinking  as 
to  what  invention  can  be  produced  to  make  the  impossi- 
bility of  his  escape  more  complete  than  it  is." 

The  Income  Tax  decision  is  the  counterpart.  There  are 
millions,  hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars  of  incomes  in 
the  hands  of  the  rich,  who  are  protected  in  life,  liberty  and 
property  and  have  representation.  And  the  Supreme  Court 
says  they  shall  not  pay  taxes  on  their  incomes.  Our  fath- 
ers said  taxation  without  representation  was  tyranny. 

Representation  and  protection  without  taxation  is  an 
unbearable  tyranny.  Black  and  white  man  slavery. 

J,  HARPER. 


THE  GOLD  STANDARD  WILL  DESTROY  CIVIL- 
IZATION. 

"On  the  Sea  of  Discontent,  on  the  floods  of  fury." 

That  is  the  condition  of  Christendom  to-day. 

"The  mystic  ocean  of  unrest  is  world-wide." — Disraeli. 

"The  nations  are  drifting." — Salisbury. 

"The  upheaval  of  humanity  is  just  at  hand  that  shall  re- 
map the  globe." — Napoleon  III. 

"Dynamite  is  heralding  a  new  era." — Julius  Jerome. 

"The  storms  now  shaking  the  earth  are  the  forerunner 
of  the  regenesis." — Simpson. 

Look  where  you  will  and  you  find  the  fiery  words  of  the 
Seer  actualizing  into  history,  "Evil  shall  go  forth  from 
nation  to  nation." 

The  governments  are  drifting  into  the  old  grooves  that 
end  in  destruction. 

"Capital  haughty,  labor  sinking,  the  end  nearing." — 
Ludwick. 

Wages  fell  from  Egypt  to  Rome,  over  a  period  of 
eighteen  hundred  years. 

Then  the  hiatus  was  reached. 

Labor  sank  to  seven  cents  a  day. 

The  epitaph  of  that  age  was  death. 


302  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

Wages  have  been  falling,  falling,  falling,  and  we  are 
reaching  the  next  hiatus — twenty-eight  cents  a  day  the 
globe  over. 

Lower  than  at  any  time  for  a  hundred  years. 

"A  falling  wage  brings  us  to  death ;  a  falling  price  to 
ruin." — Vision  of  the  Blessed. 

"The   republic  ought   to   be   happy." — Stoddard. 

Is  it? 

Are  the  conditions  happifying? 

Seventeen-twentieths  of  the  wage-workers  of  Christen- 
dom are  within  thirty  days  of  starvation. 

The  three-twentieths  are  richer  than  were  the  haugh- 
tiest lords  that  reigned  from  Egypt  to  Rome. 

"Material  prosperity  never  had  an  equal." — London 
Letter. 

Who  owns  this  wealth  ? 

Less  than  one-quarter  of  one  per  cent  of  the  people. 

The  national  debt,  the  state  debts,  and  all  other  cor- 
poration debts  amount  to  twenty  thousand  million  dollars. 

This  almost  infinite  amount  draws  an  average  annual 
interest  that,  after  a  scant  living,  it  takes  the  entire  sur- 
plus products  to  pay,  and  leaves  two  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  million  dollars  unpaid  every  year. 

Less  than  one-quarter  of  one  per  cent  thus  have  a  mort- 
gage on  us  that,  under  the  present  policy,  will  last  for- 
ever. 

We  have  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand  miles 
of  railroad,  costing  about  two  thousand  million  dollars. 

Who  owns  them  ? 

The  same,  less  than  one-quarter  of  one  per  cent. 

There  are  five  thousand  million  dollars  watered  stock 
piled  on  top,  swelling  the  sum  to  seven  thousand  million 
dollars. 

On  this  infinite  sum  is  wrung,  by  an  extortion  deeper 
in  crime  than  was  slavery,  ten  per  cent  annually. 

Making  the  "kings  of  the  rail"  the  most  despicable  ty- 
rants that  the  sun  of  civilization  ever  shone  upon. 

And  by  their  rapacity,  under  the  forms  of  purchased 
law,  they  degrade  labor  and  production  to  a  state  of  bond- 
age not  long  to  be  endured. 

These  monopolies  of  transportation  have  also  a  land 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  303 

gift,  munificent  as  an  empire — as  large  as  nine  states  like 
Ohio. 

The  telegraph,  costing  some  twenty  million  dollars, 
is  watered  up  to  eighty  million  dollars. 

Who  owns  them  ? 

The  same  one-quarter  of  one  per  cent. 

And  on  this  superstructure  of  crime — three-quarters 
water,  one-quarter  cash — this  little  class  of  law's  favorites 
declare  a  dividend  of  fifteen  per  cent. 

Happy  one-quarter  of  one  per  cent! 

They  own  the  railroads. 

They  own  the  telegraph. 

They  own  the  national  debt. 

They  own  the  quasi-public  debt. 

They  own  twenty-four  hundred  national  banks. 

These  banks  rest  upon  the  debt  (bonds)  they  own-r- 
untaxed  debt. 

On  this  debt  they  are  given  90  per  cent  in  notes  to  loan 
as  money. 

With  these  gifts  and  franchises  they  are  omnipotent — 
•while  the  law  sustains  them. 

They  have  monopolized  the  lands. 

So  that  there  are  more  tenants  than  land  owners.*** 

They  have  monopolized  the  coal. 

They  have  monopolized  the  oil. 

They  have  monopolized  the  precious  metals. 

They  have  crushed  labor. 

Wages  have  fallen  for  twenty  years. 

Salaries  have  raised, 

Until  the  burden,  the  sorrow,  the  ruin,  has  grown  into 
a  mighty  wail  that  reaches  from  sea  to  sea. 

Greater  business  depression  than  was  ever  known. 

Society  trembles  as  never  witnessed  before. 

Failures  on  the  increase. 

Penitentiary  offenses  on  the  increase. 

Murder  on  the  increase. 

Lunacy  on  the  increase. 

Suicide  on  the  increase. 

Divorce  on  the  increase. 

And  the  assassination  of  our  rulers  shocks  the  great 
republic  as  a  sign  of  dissolution. 


304  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

From  the  top  to  the  bottom  there  is  rottenness. 

The  Executive,  chosen  because  of  his  fitness  to  repre- 
sent the  nation,  as  its  head,  aptly  epitomizes  our  civiliza- 
tion— he  cannot  be  expected  to  rise  above  the  tide  that 
swept  him  to  his  present  place. 

As  a  people  so  their  rulers. 

A  nation  is  known  by  its  laws. 

"Corrupt  enactments  by  designing  men  are  the  first 
sown  seeds  of  death." — Henry  Clay. 

The  policies  have  been  corrupt  ever  since  the  war. 

The  result : 

Millionaires  on  one  side,  representatives  of  their  class. 

Tramps  on  the  other  side,  representatives  of  their  class. 

The  road  is  the  same  other  nations  have  trod. 

The  end  will  be  the  same. 


"THIS  GOLDEN  UNIT"  IS  THE  DESPOTS' 
SONG. 

The  Crime  of  the  Age. 

The  march  to  peace  is  over  the  broken  altars  of  wrong. 

The  bridge  of  sighs  leads  to  the  sea  of  tears. 

The  greed  of  capital  is  the  prelude  to  despair. 

The  Omniarch  of  the  world  ought  to  speak  again : 

"Awake  thou  that  sleepest  and  arise  from  the  dead." 

Gangrene  is  the  vestibule  to  the  charnel  house  of  death. 

The  world  drifts ; 

Riches  defy  God. 

The  poor  die, 

Heaven  stands  appalled, 

Hell  holds  jubilee. 

And  the  golden  god  in  silken  sheen, 

The  state  in  nightmare  holds, 

While  storms  as  fierce  as  the  furies  march, 

Wraps  worlds  in  sorrow's  folds. 

Policy  prates  of  "material  wealth," 

And  despots  shout  their  song — 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  305 

"That  capital  is  a  thing  of  right." 
"Labor  a  thing  of  wrong." 

The  political  march  for  twenty  years  on  the  money  ques- 
tion 

Has  been  a  lie. 

It  is  no  better  now. 

*****  **** 

We  are  told  by  the  capitalist  that  the  river  to  the  fair 
land  of  business  felicity  is  to  be  crossed  on  a  golden 
bridge. 

And  this  anthem  is  struck  upon  every  string  of  the  siren 
harp  of  tyrants. 

It  is  false  clamor,  incongruous  as  the  nightingales  which 
the  soul  of  Sophocles  heard  singing  in  the  grove  of  the 
Furies. 

It  is  the  presage  of  darkness  that  threatens  the  coming 
of  the  shadow  of  death. 

It  is  the  chorus  of  fiends  echoing  from  the  vaults  of 
Pluto. 

Such  a  paen  amid  the  "dying  of  want,"  sang  by  the 
soulless,  seems  like  the  fresco  of  hope  on  the  walls  of  hell, 
to  heighten  the  horrors  of  the  damned. 

With  a  million  out  of  employment,  at  a  loss  of  a  million 
a  day  in  unearned  wealth,  the  song  is  a  gorgon  of  woe. 

With  another  half  million  loss,  on  half  rations,  "be- 
cause too  poor  to  eat,"  the  woe  becomes  double. 

With  sorrows  that  follow  what  tongue  can  tell.  . 

Hopeless  men, 

Heart-broken  women, 

Dying  children. 

These  fill  earth  with  the  evangels  of  despair. 

Business  depression  as  wide  as  the  world. 

Prices  lower  than  they  have  been  in  a  hundred  years. 

Money  almighty. 

What  shall  the  song  declare  ? 

What  shall  the  harvest  yield? 

The  President  strikes  hope  in  the  face. 

Congress  sleeps,  wrangles  and  votes — 

For  the  gold  unit! 

The  judiciary  dreams. 

And   God   denounces   this   modern   Meroz   because   it 


306  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

comes  not  up  to  the  help  of  the  people  against  the  mighty 
— god  of  gold. 

The  railroads  have  become  a  tyranny. 

The  telegraphs  have  become  a  tyranny. 

Land  jobbery  has  become  a  tyranny. 

Debt  has  become  a  tyranny. 

Money  has  become  a  tyranny. 

Banks  of  issue  crown  the  arch  and  become  the  sixth 
factor  in  the  triumphal  march  to  ruin. 

Are  there  no  dangers  ? 

Fools  say  "no." 

Are  there  no  wrongs,  deep-seated  as  sin,  wide-spread 
as  the  world? 

Knaves  say  "no." 

Look  and  see. 

The  increase  of  crime  is  a  result  of  a  cause. 

The  increase  of  murder  is  the  result  of  a  cause. 

The  increase  of  lunacy  is  a  result  of  a  cause. 

The  increase  of  suicide  is  a  result  of  a  cause. 

The  increase  of  divorce  is  a  result  of  a  cause. 

The  assassination  of  our  Presidents  is  a  result. 

Remove  the  cause. 

The  combined  powers  of  the  world  cannot  destroy  a 
cause  by  righting  a  result. 

Repressive  forces,  striking  at  results,  cannot  remove 
the  cause  lying  back  of  it. 

The  great  depression  in  business  is  a  result. 

The  universal  unrest  is  a  result. 

The  "strike"  is  a  result, 

Dynamite  is  a  result, 

Labor  trouble  is  a  result, 

Growing  out  of  the  oppression  of  labor. 

Capital  in  the  hands  of  fallen  man 

Is  a  tyrant. 

A  few  years  ago  it  said — 

"Capital  shall  own  labor." 

Now  it  says — 

"Capital  shall  control  labor." 

The  first  was  chattel  slavery. 

The  second  is  serfdom — 

A  greater  enemy  to  labor  than  the  first. 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  307 

"It  is  labor  that  needs  protection,  not  capital." — Lin- 
coln. 

**The  money  lords  of  England  hold  the  following  mort- 
gages on  the  productive  industry  of  that  country : 

There  are  126,331  of  them,  out  of  a  population  of  32,- 
000,000,  and  their  holdings,  according  to  The  London 
Bankers  Magazine,  are  as  follows : 

Government  obligations $3,750,000,000 

Home  railways 3,600,000,000 

Other  home  securities 8,125,000,000 


Total $15,475,000,000 

This  vast  sum  of  English  indebtedness  bears  an  average 
annual  interest  of  41-2  per  cent,  making  an  annual  tax 
upon  labor  of  $700,000,000. 

***For  sixty-five  years-  of  our  history  three-quarters  of 
the  people  owned  their  homes,  and  one-quarter  were  ten- 
ants. At  the  end  of  the  war  five-eighths  owned  their 
homes  and  three-eighths  were  tenants.  In  1885  three- 
eighths  owned  their  homes  and  five-eighths  were  tenants. 


AN  INQUIRY  CONCERNING  SILVER,  BI-METAL- 
ISM  AND  GOLD. 

THEIR    MONEY   RELATIONS,    AS   RECORDED   IN    THE   WORLD'S 
HISTORIES.      THEIR  LAW  STATUS  AMONG   MAN- 
KIND.    BOTH  PAST  AND  PRESENT. 

BY  J.  HARPER,  Danville,  111. 

(All  Rights  Reserved.) 

"Ask  for  the  old  paths  and  walk  therein  and  ye  shall 
find  rest  for  your  souls." — Jer.  6:16. 

This  divine  request  came  to  me  as  I  read : 

"For  all  time  gold  has  been  adopted  as  the  standard 
money  of  the  nations  of  the  earth." — Commercial,  Dan- 
ville, 111. 

The  gold  dollar  has  doubled  in  twenty  years. 


308  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

Is  this  one  of  the  old  paths  that  we  are  to  ask  for — that 
we  are  asking  for — so  that  in  walking  therein  we  shall  find 
rest  for  our  souls? 

Let  us  be  plain — square  up  the  statement  by  the  line  of 
truth ;  and  it  stands  as  the  most  extravagant  fulmination 
of  an  untruth  now  in  print. 

The  propounder  of  it,  I  have  no  doubt,  is  a  fair  man, 
but  has  no  just  conception  of  what  he  was  talking  about. 

It  contradicts  all  history. 

It  contradicts  all  constitutions. 

It  contradicts  all  magna  chartas. 

It  is  a  travesty  on  the  earth's  present  condition. 

A  2OO-cent  dollar  for  the  bond  holder — gold. 

It  is  a  flat  contradiction  of  the  Bible,  the  Christian's 
holy  book. 

It  is  a  flat  contradiction  of  the  Chum-fu  of  China,  the 
holy  book  of  that  great  people. 

It  is  a  flat  contradiction  of  the  Vedas,  the  holy  book  of 
the  Indi. 

It  is  a  flat  contradiction  of  the  Koran,  the  holy  book  of 
the  Moham. 

And  if  not  tragical  in  aim,  to  enthrone  the  wrong  would 
be  omnis  ridiculus  est,  "the  sum  total  of  the  ridiculous." 

The  English  word  "money"  occurs  first  in  history  1860 
years  B.  C. 

The  English  language,  when  the  transaction  took  place 
at  that  remote  period,  was  not  in  use. 

What  we  mean  is  this: 

The  Anglo-Saxon — that  is,  England  and  the  United 
States,  have  had  translated  into  English  every  ancient 
book,  manuscript  and  writing  on  earth  now  known.  So 
that  as  we  go  back  along  the  track  of  the  centuries,  till 
we  find  1860  years  B.  C.,  there  we  meet  a  man  bargaining 
for  a  piece  of  land,  and  who  had  the  "money"  to  pay  for 
it. 

He  was  suffering  and  bowed  down  to  the  very  earth 
with  a  sorrow,  the  heaviest  man  has  ever  borne.  He 
was  looking  for  a  burial  place  for  his  wife  that  lay 
dead  before  him. 

The  ov.-ner  of  the  land  sought  was  a  man  high  among 
his  countrymen — Ephorn  (dust).  He  knew  the  power 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  309 

of  death  upon  "dust,"  of  which  we  are  formed;  so  his 
loving  heart  came  out  in  words  through  the  lips: 

"My  lord,  hear  me;  the  field  I  give  thee;  take  it  and 
bury  thy  dead." 

The  answer — "I  will  give  thee  the  worth  of  it  in 
"money." 

And  the  buyer  weighed  out  the  price,  "four  hundred 
shekels  of  silver,  current  money,  with  the  merchant." 

That  transaction  was  in  "time,"  was  on  "earth,"  and 
the  Hittites  were  a  "nation,"  and  "silver"  (Heb.  Keh 
Seph}  was  "standard  money." 

"Shekel,"  Heb.  "a  certain  weight,  by  which  the 
weight  and  price  of  other  things  are  determined." — 
H.  Lex. 

The  Hebrews  used  "silver,"  weighed  by  the  shekel, 
as  "money,"  "current  money,"  "standard  money." — Heb. 
Lex. 

And  the  Hebrews  continued  to  use  "silver"  as  the 
"standard  money"  about  850  years  before  they  adopted 
bimetalism  and  used  the  gold  shekel  as  "money." 

"So  David  gave  Oman  for  the  place  six  hundred 
shekels  of  gold  by  weight."  Silver  as  the  standard  had 
occupied  the  field  alone  for  nearly  850  years  and  then 
gold  came  as  a  helpmate. 

"Throughout  the  Law,  money  is  spoken  of  as  in  or- 
dinary use,  but  only  'silver  money.'  Gold  was  not  used 
as  money." — Ges.  L.  T.  of  D.  D. 

Up  to  David's  time,  B.  C.  1017,  gold  was  not  used  as 
money,  nor  till  just  843  years  after  the  introduction  of  sil- 
ver as  standard  money. 

Dr.  Hastings,  under  the  title,  "Facts  About  Gold,"  in 
S.  of  G.,  says:  "The  first  recorded  mention  of  gold  as 
money  was  the  six  hundred  shekels  with  which  King 
David  bought  the  threshing  floor  of  Oman,  B.  C.  1017. 

Croesus,  B.  C.  560,  coined  the  golden  Stater;  and 
Darius,  son  of  Hystaspases,  King  of  Persia,  B.  C.  538, 
coined  the  golden  Darius.  Gold  was  also  early  coined 
by  the  Kings  of  Sicely ;  by  Gelo,  B.  C.  491 ;  by  Hiero, 
B.  C.  478;  by  Dionysus,  B.  C.  404;  by  King  Philip  of 
Macedon,  B.  C.  306'."— S.  of  T.  Hay,  i,  13.  Cy. 


310  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

The  following  is  the  reason  why  gold  was  not  in  the 
money  schedule. 

"Gold  was  extensively  abundant  in  ancient  times.  At 
first  it  was  chiefly  used  for  ornaments.  Coined  'money' 
was  not  known  to  the  ancients  till  a  comparatively  recent 
date.  It  (gold)  did  not  depreciate  in  value,  because 
of  the  immense  quantities  used  by  the  wealthy  in  furni- 
ture, plate,  adornments  of  their  buildings,  carriages — 
everything  was  ablaze  with  gold." — B.  Dec.  O.  R.  W. 
S.  Com.  S.  of  T.  Ges.  Heb.  4. 

England  (Britain)  used  silver  B.  C.  25.  Coined  sil- 
ver pennies  of  22  1-2  grains  and  have  been  using  it  (sil- 
ver) ever  since. — B.  Enc. 

Silver  had  the  field  in  England  alone  from  B.  C.  25 
to  A.  D.  1257,  when  she  first  coined  gold  (B.  Enc.)  as 
money,  and  bimetalism  has  continued  ever  since. 

Let  us  look  at  this  "Standard"  that  the  great  logician 
talks  about. 

"Standard,"  that  which  is  established  by  sovereign 
power  as  a  rule  or  measure,  by  which  others  are  to  be 
adjusted. — W.  D. 

A  tp-cent  dollar  for  the  plow-holder — silver. 

How  could  gold  be  the  "standard"  of  the  nation  of 
England  (Britain)  from  B.  C.  25  to  A.  D.  1257,  while 
silver  coined  by  law  was  "standard  money?" 

In  A.  D.  1257  England  (Britain)  first  coined  gold 
and  made  it  money. — B.  Enc. 

What  of  the  1282  years  from  B.  C.  25  to  A.  D.  1257? 

Was  England  (Britain)  during  these  years,  as  a  "na- 
tion," using  "gold  as  the  Standard?" 

It  must  be  so,  because  this  mighty  tree  among  the 
underbrush  cries  aloud,  "For  all  time  gold  has  been 
adopted  as  the  Standard  money  of  the  nations  of  the 
earth." 

Where  on  earth  was  the  nation  that  was  doing  it? 

Again : 

What  of  the  years  from  the  purchase  of  the  burial 
field  of  Ephorn  for  "silver  money,"  B.  C.  1860  years, 
down  to  the  purchase  of  the  threshing  floor  by  David 
for  a  place  to  offer  sacrifice?  He  paid  for  it  in  "gold 
shekels"  "weighed  out,"  and  is  the  first  named  case  of 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  311 

gold  being  used  as  money,  in  all  history. — H.  D.  S.  of 
T.  H.  Die. 

Silver  had  reached  that  high  place,  "Standard 
Money,"  850  years  before. 

And  not  only  the  Jewish  state  traveled  this  road  of 
silver,  but  all  the  mighty  powers  of  earth — Egypt,  Baby- 
lon, Persia,  Greece  and  Rome — traveled  the  same  road 
— the  silver  standard  highway. 

And  thus  they  marched  for  quite  the  first  thousand 
years.  And,  mark  you,  it  was  the  introduction  of  gold 
that  made  bi-metalism. 

Here  entered  bi-metalism,  and  both  metals  have  been 
used  ever  since  as  money  by  the  "nations  of  the  earth." 

Rome,  the  greatest  in  both  profane  and  sacred  his- 
tory, the  most  gigantic  and  awful,  did  not  reach  the  gold 
coin  point  till  B.  C.  269,  while  she  had  coined  silver  B. 

C.  573- 

What  was  the  "standard"  from  573  till  269,  when 
gold  was  first  coined,  and  bi-metalism  lived — two  metals 
used  as  standard  money. 

Yet  this  Diogenes  of  the  "tub,"  seeking  the  "shining 
shore,"  by  the  "gold  route,"  says:  "For  all  time  gold 
has  been  adopted  as  the  standard  money  of  the  nations 
of  the  earth." 

Why,  brethren,  let  me  tell  you  something — "all  time" 
is  a  long  time,  and  you  now  come  to  inform  us  that  all 
this  long  time  "gold"  has  been  the  adopted  "standard 
money"  of  the  nations  of  the  earth. 

Now,  to  be  kind  with  you,  what  part,  what  period,  of 
this  long  stretch  of  time  will  you  point  out — what  place 
or  portion  of  the  earth,  the  nation  was  in,  where  the 
mandate  "adopting"  "gold"  as  the  "standard  money  of 
the  nations  of  the  earth  went  forth?" 

Why,  my  dearly  beloved  Achan — the  man  of  the 
"golden  wedge,"  this  "standard"  business,  nations  "on 
the  earth,"  the  very  place  you  refer  to — have  had  a  pow- 
erful sight  of  trouble  over.  And  that  is  the  trouble  now 
and  when  you  fully  get  hold  of  that  fact,  you  will  be 
the  last  "gold  calf"  on  the  planet,  to  say :  "For  all  time," 
etc. 


312  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

That  statement  is  what  our  Latin  kinfolk  call  Brutum 
Fulmen. 

Mr.  Barring,  of  Barring  Bros.,  in  his  testimony  re- 
garding the  break-down  *  *  *  says:  In  Calcutta, 
where  silver  was  the  "standard,"  gold  could  not  raise 
any  money  and  men  went  down  overwhelmed  in  ruin. 
Following,  as  the  "battle  of  the  standard"  pushed  on,  in 
Constantinople,  where  gold  was  the  "standard,"  silver 
could  get  no  money,  and  merchants,  all  who  were  in 
debt,  went  down  to  death  under  the  wreck. 

The  "time,"  the  part  of  the  "earth"  and  the  "nations," 
have  not  yet  been  found,  when  and  where  "all"  and  each 
nation  stood  on  gold  alone  as  the  "standard  money."  All 
"nations"  have  not  stood  there  in  all  "time"  in  all  the 
"earth." 

That  is  a  species  of  eloquence  like  the  thistledown, 
light,  and  floats  in  the  air. 

In  fact,  the  statement  is  very  thin  air,  when  the  loca- 
tion is  looked  for  in  "time"  on  "earth" — then  the  stand- 
ard gets  lost  in  the  "contiguity  of  space." 

And  when  we  apply  the  test  to  the  fourteen  hundred 
million  of  the  present,  the  statement  happens  to  be  doubt- 
ful. 

The  attempt  of  mankind,  from  the  earliest  dawn,  has 
been  to  adjust  themselves  to  the  "precious  metals." 

And  the  two  metals  have  through  the  ages  been  "trav- 
eling companions." 

Silver  leading  in  longer  periods  and  wider  in  range — 
as  a  "single  standard." 

Both  have  been  "standard  coin."  But  the  "yellow 
god" — gold,  is  young  in  the  matter  of  "single  standard" 
and  is  trying  to  push  the  white  "god-silver" — the  "first," 
the  "old"  "single  standard,"  out  of  his  way — and  be- 
come the  second  tyrant  at  Argos.  And  to  "make  be- 
lieve," rounds  out  the  claim  in  grand-eloquent  terms, 
"for  all  time,"  etc. 

This  "push"  of  gold  to  become  standard  money  of 
the  world,  is  a  torture  that  is  causing  all  of  mankind  to 
writhe  in  pain.  Let  us  beware. 

Look  now  outside  of  Christendom  and  we  find  full 
seventy-five  per  cent  of  the  race.  How  about  them? 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  313 

"In  China,  Sycee,  silver,  is  the  principal  currency,  paid 
and  received  by  weight.  Spanish  dollars  also  circulate 
there,  but  only  after  they  have  been  assayed  and  stamped 
as  proof  that  they  are  of  standard  fineness." — Moran. 

From  a  report  of  their  own  agent,  resident  in  China, 
to  the  British  government,  we  find  this:  "There  is  no 
coined  silver  or  gold  currency  in  China;  the  only  money 
taken  being  a  copper  coin  called  cash,  of  small  value, 
1,700  representing  a  Spanish  Carolus  dollar.  Silver, 
therefore,  in  bulk,  at  its  pure  touch  of  100  per  cent, 
takes  the  place  of  a  coined  measure  of  value,  being  di- 
vided into  the  government  standard  weights  called  teal, 
mace,  cash,  candareem,  each  having  a  decimal  propor- 
tion to  the  other;  and  thus  a  nominal  money  is  created, 
although  more  properly  these  terms  are  merely  "denom- 
inations of  weight." — M.  on  M. 

So  the  statement  "For  all  time  gold  has  been  adopted 
as  the  standard  money  of  the  nations  of  the  earth" — as 
to  the  vast  empire  of  the  Chum-fu  (god)  and  Com-fu, 
the  messiah — where  five  hundred  and  fifty  million  dwell, 
more  than  one-third  of  the  people  of  the  globe — as  to 
them,  it  is  untrue.  As  to  them  it  is  falsum  in  uno  and 
falsum  in  omni. 

This  vast  nation  does  not  use  gold  as  the  standard 
money.  So,  too,  of  India  and  the  Isles,  of  the  Ocean. 

It  is  not  true  of  this  republic,  never  has  been  true  of 
it.  More  than  half  the  race  use  silver  (some  copper  and 
tokens).  About  one-quarter  uses  both  metals  and  less 
than  one-quarter  are  trying  for  gold  alone. 

And  in  their  ranks — the  quarter  portion,  stand  the  great 
creditor  nations  of  earth,  a  class  of  whose  people,  and 
their  allies,  hold  three-quarters  of  the  debt  that  mankind 
owes — one  hundred  and  fifty  billion  dollars.  In  secur- 
ing the  payment  of  the  interest  on  it,  in  gold,  these  be- 
come masters  and  all  others  mere  dependents. 

The  precious  metals  both  are:  Gold,  $3,582,605,000. 
Silver,  $4,042,700,000. 

"These  are  but  drops  in  the  bucket  in  the  world's 
trade." — Sueteber. 

Yes,  "dependents,"  for  the  debt  can  no  more  be  paid  in 
gold  than  you  can  buy  salvation  with  money. 


314  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

Here  is  the  almost  infinite  danger  now  threatening 
the  world. 

Metal  money  must  be  abandoned  and  a  circulating 
medium  of  paper  substituted,  or  the  world  is  doomed. 

Both  metals  are  insufficient.  And  the  attempt  to  place 
dependence  on  one — gold,  is  the  greatest  crime  a  class 
ever  pledged  themselves  to  perpetuate  against  mankind. 
This  nation  is  in  the  storm-center.  God  help  in  the  strug- 
gle for  Liberty. 


LECTURE  BY  JESSE  HARPER. 

ISHMAEL  AND  ISAAC  AND  THEIR  DUAL   RELATION   TO  THE 

HUMAN  RACE. GOOD  GOVERNMENT  HAS  NEVER 

YET  EXISTED  AMONG   MEN. 

(By  special  permission  of  Colonel  Jesse  Harper  of  Dan- 
ville, 111.,  we  print  the  following  extracts  from  a  lecture 
which  he  is  now  using  in  a  series  of  public  lectures.  He 
is  open  to  a  few  more  engagements  during  the  coming  lec- 
ture season. — Editor  Farmers'  Sentinel.} 

THE  CHURCH  AND  THE  STATE. 

The  object  of  this  lecture  is  to  show  from  the  trend  of 
all  natural  and  supernatural  forces,  the  close  of  the  pres- 
ent economics  and  the  birth  of  the  new ;  to  speak  from  a 
wider  base,  to  present  the  fearful  dangers  to  both  clerical 
and  secular  affairs. 

The  two  names,  at  their  start,  represented  the  two 
sides  of  human  achievement. 

The  Church  and  the  State.  They  do  so  to-day.  They 
overshadow  every  other  force. 

Israelism  and  Islamism — the  dual  problems  of  the  age. 

These  two  names  have  influenced  mankind  as  no  other 
two  on  earth.  Their  works  cover  a  space  of  400  years. 
They  shaped  the  march  of  ages,  and  are  doing  so  now. 

We  give  some  notings  from  the  lecture,  to  show  the 
style,  scope,  aim  and  end,  and  give  glints  of  the  consum- 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  315 

mation,  as  hope,  to  inspire  on  the  rugged  way.  The 
mighty  drama  covers  a  struggle  from  the  "paradise  lost 
to  the  paradise  regained." 

God  is  the  fourth  word  in  the  Bible;  Elohim  in  their 
language.  A  "dual"  word  which  begins  in  God  and  ends 
in  Man. 

Immanuel,  the  Messiah's  divine  name,  is  a  dual  word, 
begins  in  Man  and  ends  in  God. 

Ishmael  is  a  dual  word,  begins  in  truth  and  ends  in 
God. 

Isaac  is  a  dual  word,  begins  in  laughter  and  ends  in  joy. 

"THE  EXALTED  FATHER." 

Go  to  1896  B.  C.  Abram,  "exalted  father"  (no  chil- 
dren at  the  time),  was  75  years  old.  One  child  (uno  omni) 
would  fill  the  promise. 

Come  down  to  1910  B.  C.  and  Gohlahm  ("Almighty 
God")  changes  the  name  to  Abraham,  "Father  of  Count- 
less Men  and  a  Multitude  of  Nations." 

Ishmael  and  Isaac  were  sons  of  this  dual  named  man. 
The  law  of  duality  fills  heaven  and  earth. 

Abraham's  prayer  was — "O  that  Ishmael  might  live 
before  thee."  The  sequence  following  is  one  of  the  most 
infinite  miracles  ever  witnessed  by  the  race.  Remember 
this  in  passing. 

The  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death  lies  between  the  two 
paradises ;  the  king's  highway  runs  through  it. 

It  is  bridged  from  end  to  end.  The  pillar  that  upholds 
it  is  the  Rock  of  Ages. 

The  workmanship  is  dual — Moses  and  the  prophets; 
Christ  and  the  apostles. 

They  harmonize  Debt  and  Grace,  and  reconcile  Ishmael 
and  Isaac. 

Those  who  pass  over  the  bridge  have  admission  into  the 
"purchased  possession." 

What  have  these  divinely  appointed  men  accomplished  ? 

Come  1800  years  from  the  head  and  one  of  the  seed 
was  miraculously  manifested  in  the  flesh — Jesus,  Son  of 
Peace.  The  Angel  choir  celebrated  his  birth  with  "Peace 
on  Earth,"  etc. 


316  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

Come  down  2,500  years  from  the  head  and  the  other 
seed  was  manifested:  "Abdallah,"  "Son  of  Force." 

BIBLE  AND  KORAN. 

Both  descended  lineally  from  Abraham. 
The  Isaac  has  the  Biblos — "Book." 
The  Ishmael  has  the  Al-Koran — "Book." 
The    Isaac   declares    miracles.      The    Ishmael    spurns 
them. 

When  miracles  were  called  for,  as  proofs  of  his  (Ma- 
homet's) mission,  he  called  himself  the  Superior  of  Moses 
and  Jesus,  and  with  an  air  of  authority  declared  that 
God  had  sent  Moses  and  Christ  with  miracles  and  yet 
that  men  would  not  be  obedient  to  their  word,  and  that, 
therefore,  he  had  sent  Mahomet,  in  the  last  place,  with- 
out miracles,  to  force  them  by  the  power  of  the  sword 
to  do  his  will. — Rek.  Die.  Bio. 

Come  down  the  centuries  from  1900  B.  C.  to  now,  the 
Ishmael,  the  Isaac,  the  Gentile,  have  struggled  for  the 
earth. 

The  Isaac  built  a  church  dedicated  to  "El." 
The  Ishmael  built  a  mosque  dedicated  to  "Al." 
The  Gentile  built  a  temple  dedicated  to  "Aiblo." 
All  invoke  force ;  all  invoke  by  prayer ;  all  deny  Christ 
— as  personal  redeemer  of  earth. 

GOOD    GOVERNMENT    HAS    NEVER    EXISTED. 

During  all  these  sickening,  wasting,  dying  centuries 
"good  government  has  never  existed  among  men." 

But  instead,  the  wail  of  the  innocent,  the  wail  of  the 
destitute,  the  wail  of  the  starving,  with  the  groans  of  the 
dying,  have  turned  this  earth  into  the  valley  of  the 
shadow  of  death. 

These  two  force  and  dictate  to  the  Gentile.  Inspira- 
tion utters  the  language,  "Prepare  war." 

Each,  the  Ishmael  and  the  Isaac,  have  had  their  triple 
quadrate. 

Isaac  the  twelve  patriarchs,  the  twelve  apostles ;  the 
Christ. 

Ishmael ;  the  twelve  princes,  the  twelve  califs,  the  Mo- 
hammed. 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  317 

Isaac  is  in  posterity  "Father  of  nations." 
Ishmael  is  in  posterity  "Father  of  a  great  nation." 
The  race  is  armed  as  never  before.    "Beat  your  plow- 
shares into  swords  and  your  pruning  hooks  into  spears; 
the  weak  say  I  am  strong." 

CONSUMMATION. 

The  scripture  cited  heralds  the  ending  of  the  "Con- 
troversy of  Zion,"  "End  of  Gentile  rule,"  "The  second 
advent  of  Jesus  Christ." 

The  6,000  years  from  Adam  (lunar)  close  in  1899. 
And  the  "six  days  of  creation,"  typic  of  the  six  thousand 
years  of  "creation,"  end  with  the  century,  and  the  twen- 
tieth century  ushers  in  the  Re-Genesis — the  mille-annus 
of  the  seventh  thousand  year. 

The  coronation  (marriage  of  the  second  Adam  to  the 
second  Eve,  the  "bride")  is  due,  and  all  nations  are  cry- 
ing for  deliverance — for  an  omniarch,  the  deliverer. 

The  Anastasis  is  going  on,  unseen  to  human  eye,  till 
the  apocalypse  bursts  upon  the  age! 

The  two  basal  powers  are  taking  position  side  by  side. 
The  sovereignty  of  the  world  is  to  become  the  sover- 
eignty of  the  Lord  and  His  Christ. 

The  earthly  Jerusalem  is  to  be  the  capital.  "Become 
an  external  excellence,"  "City  of  the  Great  King."  Out 
of  which  shall  go  forth  the  law — the  word  of  the  Lord. 
And  the  lion  of  the  tribe  of  Judah  "shall  lead  the  nations 
on  earth." 

In  the  Jerusalem,  "Abve,"  capital  of  the  "Kingdom  of 
the  Heaven,"  whose  maker  and  builder  is  God,  "in 
whose  light  the  nations  of  the  saved  work;"  all  the 
dwellers  are  spiritual,  some  gone  up  to  the  divine  nature, 
the  "Bride,"  deathless  as  Christ,  immortal  as  God ;  others 
up  to  the  angel  nature,  to  endless  life  depending  on  end- 
less obedience.  The  dual  cities  become  celebrants  of  the 
one  name,  to  which  all  in  earth  and  heaven  bow. 


AN  ODD  FELLOW'S  ADDRESS. 

DELIVERED    IN    DANVILLE,   ILLINOIS,    AUGUST   21,    l866,    BY 
J.    HARPER,    OF   WILLIAMSPORT,    INDIANA. 

(From  the  Danville  Commercial.) 

More  than  twenty-three  hundred  years  ago,  far  off 
on  the  Orient  banks  of  the  Hiddekel,  with  golden  sun- 
shine overmantling,  lay  a  hoary-headed  man,  struck 
down  by  the  Shekinah  of  Jehovah.  His  silver  locks,  gently 
floating  in  the  breeze,  to  conscious  life  as  dead,  he  lay, 
while  the  destinies  of  a  world  passed  in  review.  As 
corruption  did  the  entrancing  glories  make  him.  Then  the 
angel  touched  his  lip,  Omnipotence  raised  him  up,  proph- 
etic fire  blazed  upon  his  soul,  and  his  burning  eye  glanced 
down  the  stream  of  time  more  than  two  millennium  of 
years.  The  vista-glance  took  in  the  world  wonders, 
from  the  day  of  the  Prince-bard  of  the  "Ulai,"  to  our 
times, — Daniel  was  in  a  vision. 

He  saw  the  first  great  power  of  the  world,  "the  empire 
of  gold,"  rise,  draw  its  "Scythian  blade,"  and  strike  for 
the  heart  of  humanity.  Then  the  "mystic  hand,"  the 
"shadeless  eye,"  cropped  the  air-poised  wings  and  As- 
syria died. 

He  saw  rise  in  its  wake  the  "silver  power,"  the 
"bear-grasping"  Medo,  and  head  to  this  diademic  power, 
Cyrus,  "my  prince,"  stood  forth.  He  bursted  the  "twelve 
laved"  gates,  turned  the  channels  of  the  deep  and  caused 
to  sound  on  Zion's  hill,  the  song  of  the  rescued  tribes. 
Then  Persia  died. 

He  saw  spring  from  the  grove-dotted  plain,  the  "Mad 
Boy  of  Macedon,"  and  with  his  brazen  Greeks,  force 
the  flood-tide  of  the  Granicus,  and  snatch  victory  from 
six  million  dead-souled  Orientals,  and  by  Phalanx 
charge,  turn  westward  the  civilization  of  the  world. 

318 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  liar  p. . .  319 

Then  the  conqueror  fell,  conquered  by  the  sting  of  wine, 
and  Greece  died. 

He  saw  that  "nondescript"  beast,  "monster  type  of 
three  worlds,"  mythic  remnant  of  rebellion  in  heaven, 
and  scourge  of  the  world.  He  saw  it  rise  from  the  sea 
of  woe,  and  with  iron  teeth  and  steel,  crush  to  death 
humanity's  Redeemer.  He  saw  Calvary,  the  Cross,  the 
sun  in  darkness,  the  moon  in  blood,  and  the  stars  in 
blackness,  the  dead  rise  and  captivity  led  captive.  He 
saw  the  ages  following,  when  the  decree  went  forth  to 
blot  the  Christian  name  from  the  earth.  Then  he  saw 
the  "hives"  from  Asia  and  the  "hordes"  from  the  north, 
sweep  down  from  their  "leafy  haunts"  and  sack  the 
"seven-hilled  city,"  and  drown  out  in  blood  the  civili- 
zation of  the  world.  He  saw  the  "star  of  Medina,"  like 
the  locust,  rise  from  his  desert  home  and  with  "blue 
blade,"  Damascus  fine,  shake  the  globe  with  his  sword 
power.  He  saw  the  dark  ages,  dark  as  if  the  frog  spirit 
of  Egypt  again  ruled  the  world.  He  saw  dismal  cen- 
turies, when  occulticy,  like  "phantom-ghost,"  cried,  "I 
am  piety,"  for  the  philosopher's  stone  was  the  god  of  the 
Medieval  ages.  He  saw  the  Reformation  burst  upon  man, 
and  light,  joyous  as  rain-bow  glories,  flood  the  land  of 
the  martyr-dyed  streamlets  of  the  Waldensic  Po.  He  saw 
Luther,  the  faith-lit  monk,  cut  loose  from  the  stake,  where 
sin  had  tied  it,  the  living  word ;  and  then  on  angel  wing 
that  word  was  borne  everywhere. 

Then  he  saw  the  eighteenth  century  convulsed  to 
death-sleep  in  a  winding  sheet,  crimson  as  Meggido's 
field.  As  its  last  hour  dawned  upon  the  race,  the  dread 
voice  of  violence  seemed  the  inspired  cry : 

"Who  is  this  that  cometh  from  Edom,  with  dyed  gar- 
ments from  Bozrah?"  Humanity  stood  appalled,  as 
fury,  hot  as  fire-flame,  swept  round  the  reeling  earth, 
fury,  hot  as  fire,  swept  round  the  reeling  earth.  Then  up 
sprang  before  his  burning  eye  the  "reeking  planet,"  and 
the  swaddling  bands  of  the  "infant  era"  were  rolled  into 
the  pallid  drapery,  that  robed  the  dying  age,  and  gem- 
like,  from  a  world  unseen,  the  Nineteenth  Century,  in 
meteoric  splendor,  flashed.  With  two-fold  Heraldry,  its 
prophetic  forecast  shone  along  the  Appian  way — the  Bi- 


320  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

ble  in  one  hand,  the  Sword  in  the  other,  baptized  in  the 
gore-sea  of  war,  its  brow  decked  with  the  jewel  that  lit 
the  lowly  bed  in  Bethlehem's  manger.  When  this  vision 
of  glorified  humanity  filled  the  prophet's  eye,  his  heart 
welled  up,  and  his  visioned  lip  rang  out — "Many  shall 
run  to  and  fro  and  knowledge  shall  be  increased." 

Thus  we  have  glanced  from  the  gorgeous  times  of  the 
"Palace  Shushan"  to  the  noontime  of  the  triadic  cen- 
tury, the  century  on  which  has  come  the  ends  of  the 
earth — let  us  chant  its  praise,  and  mourn  its  woes. 

THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY. 

Age  of  triads.  What  orator  can  portray  it,  painter 
paint  it,  or  poet  sing  it.  The  vestibule  to  fruition's  dis- 
pensation. The  physical,  intellectual  and  moral,  each 
find  worshipers  by  the  million.  These  three  powers,  the 
world's  triad — the  state,  the  church  and  benevolence, 
perfect  ideas  of  an  imperfect  age.  The  ideal,  beauty, 
sublimity,  glory,  shapes  out  from  body,  soul  and  spirit, 
a  triad  of  the  pure. — Iron,  wood  and  water,  physical 
deities,  three-headed  world-gods,  read  their  recorded 
fame. 

IRON,  WOOD,  WATER. 

The  "rock-ribbed  mountains,"  not  a  life-time  ago,  held 
within  their  hidden  recess  the  secrets  of  the  globe.  Now 
the  "rocks"  are  read  and  their  record  speaks  the  same 
language  as  the  living  word.  The  "iron  bowels  of  earth" 
have  yielded  to  the  genius  of  man  treasures  of  ore,  vast  as 
thought  can  reach.  The  globe  is  bound  round  by  hoops 
dug  from  the  nether  world.  The  magic  power  of  "the 
dark  ore"  rules  the  nations.  The  needle-gun,  rifled 
cannon,  the  "T"  rail,  the  buzzing  spindle,  and  the  anvil 
ringing,  each  alike  proclaim  this  the  iron  age,  decked  in 
gold.  Glad  notes  trill  from  millions  of  hearts ;  hopes  echo 
song — coming  redemption — sweeps  from  pole  to  pole. 
Prairie  lands  are  glad,  the  deep-bayed  forests  shout  their 
concord  note,  the  "little  hills  clap  their  hands,"  all  nature 
sings  for  joy.  The  "brave  old  oak"  of  a  thousand  years, 
the  majestic  pines,  "tall  giant"  of  mammalic-age,  seem 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  321 

huge  earth  arms  stretching  forth  to  snatch  the  star-gems 
from  the  blue  bosom  of  ether.  Old  ocean,  smooth  like 
"sheet  glass  forever" — what  myriad  jewels  adorn  thy 
brow !  The  world's  marine  sport  upon  thee.  Thy  spark- 
ling wavelets,  thrown  from  the  prow  of  the  "fleecy  sailed 
craft,"  are  joyous  as  angel  songs.  O !  grand  thing,  "typic 
synonym,"  our  righteousness  is  to  be  like  thy  combing, 
dripping,  pure  waves : 

"May  our  joys  be  like  linked  drops,  our  righteousness 
like  waves."  O!  most  dread  sea,  when  His  ways  are 
upon  thee,  then  thy  howling  winds  seem  to  say: 

"God  moves  in  a  mysterious  way, 

His  wonders  to  perform, 
He  plants  his  footsteps  on  the  sea, 
And  rides  upon  the  storm." 

From  these  inanities — iron,  wood,  water,  the  century 
was  born,  moving,  speaking,  majestic  things,  which  Bood- 
hist  bards  named  not — a  triad  of  semi-immortals. 


LOCOMOTIVE,   POWER  PRESS,  TELEGRAPH 

Sing  their  work.  The  locomotive,  as  it  snuffs  the  air 
and  spurns  the  track,  concealing  fires  within,  which  make 
it  mad  with  "speed  sublime,"  shouts,  "on,"  "a  mile  a  min- 
ute." And  on  it  rushes  through  city,  town  and  village, 
through  hill,  dale,  and  broad  prairies,  smoking,  dancing, 
screaming  like  a  new  born  thing  from  Vulcan's  forge, 
and  stops  not,  until  its  fiery  jaws  lave  in  the  grand  old 
flood  of  the  "Father  of  Waters,"  when  again  it  shouts, 
"seventy-two  hours  from  New  York."  Action  its  motto, 
travel  its  theme.  Stand  you  at  certain  points  in  this 
moving  land,  we  will  show  you  pass  that  point  every 
year,  a  greater  number  of  human  beings,  than  there  are 
people  in  these  States.  Everywhere  the  world  is  moving 
on,  on,  on. 

The  Power  Press,  perfection  of  this  age,  its  leafy  mis- 
siles are  the  mind  foliage  of  the  world.  Like  falling 
leaves,  silent  and  noiseless,  they  float  everywhere.  Three 
hundred  and  seventy-two  languages  speak  words  pre- 


322  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

pared  by  the  press,  manipulated  by  the  iron  monster 
"Hoe."  Jubilee  notes  swell  from  all  lands,  and  echo 
back  to  their  starting,  bearing  upon  their  wings  the  age- 
watchword,  "knowledge  shall  increase." 

The  Telegraph — Lightning  glance  answers  to  light- 
ning glance  as  the  news  flits  round  the  globe.  The  wires, 
charged  with  the  enginery  of  heaven,  take  upon  their  in- 
visible wings  the  thought  of  the  far-off  Mogul,  and 
dart  down  the  ice-bound  coast,  through  Siberian  snows, 
and  shout  at  the  end  of  the  course,  that  Bombay  and 
London  are  within  speaking  distance.  Not  satisfied  with 
this  wondrous  flight,  it  sinks  itself  to  ocean's  bottom, 
"takes  the  shelly  way,  'mid  the  blue  grottoes  eternal 
fathoms  deep."  And  on,  on,  on,  till  its  burning  tongue 
thrust  into  the  face  of  the  emporium  of  the  west,  and 
sparkling  with  baptized  fire  words,  it  shouts  New  York 
and  London  send  greetings.  Five  continents  clasp  hands 
and  two  worlds  are  interlocked  by  lightning-wires.  Pale 
faced  humanity  stands  aghast  at  its  own  doings. 

Thus  much  for  the  physical,  when  geared  up  by  the 
intellectual.  Pass  we  now  to  the  three  great  triads  of  in- 
tellect and  morals  combined.  The  State,  the  Church 
and  Benevolence. 

THE  STATE. 

The  power  ordained  to  punish  evil  doers  and  to  be  a 
praise  to  them  that  do  well  has  its  triad — war,  vio- 
lence and  blood.  War,  how  dread  its  work,  how  appall- 
ing its  end,  "the  battle  cry  startles  the  world."  A  shout 
like  the  trumpet's  blast  rings  along  the  line,  where  stand, 
clothed  in  steel,  a  million  men.  They  charge  and  the  clash 
of  war's  din  awakens  them  from  stupor,  and  pales  the 
cheek  of  a  whole  continent  of  people,  and  the  shout  of  the 
victors,  after  the  ordeal  of  death,  swells  out  like  the  echo 
note  of  a  redeemed  world.  Banners,  made  glorious  as 
they  waved  over  fields  of  carnage,  are  to-day  hanging 
in  the  gentle  breeze,  while  beneath  their  silken  folds, 
march  to  the  step  of  war,  eight  millions  trained  infantry, 
"bulwarks  of  Christian  nations." 

Violence  is  alive,  its  fiery  thrusts  at  order  and  peace, 
are  not  the  aim  of  mad  fury,  but  deliberate  purpose.  The 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  323 

globe  shakes,  this  day,  beneath  the  feet  of  armed  men, 
as  they  march  to  the  beck  of  mad  ambition.  The  race 
cringes  under  the  blows  of  venomed  sin,  and  red  tides 
stain  the  trembling  earth.  Blood  blood,  blood,  flows 
everywhere,  till  humanity's  great,  stricken  heart,  fills  a 
lake,  deep  and  broad  enough  to  float  the  navies  of  the 
world. 

THE  CHURCH. 

How  glorious  in  history,  work,  and  end.  Planted 
by  the  "Meek  Gallilean"  upon  a  "rock"  "that  the  gates 
of  hell  should  not  prevail  against,"  it  is  an  aegis  on 
which  eternity  pours  its  light.  The  ages  have  not  shaken 
it,  hell  has  not  moved  it — and  to-day,  star-lit,  "bright 
as  a  lamp  that  burneth,"  it  sits  a  queen,  the  world's  hope 
and  heaven's  joy.  It,  too,  has  its  triad — schools,  benevo- 
lence and  prayer.  Education  is  the  first-born  of  religion. 
Hill-top  and  valley,  singing-glade  and  broad  prairie,  each 
and  all,  hold,  nestling  in  glad  sunshine,  "the  houses  where 
men  are  grown." 

Benevolence,  her  best  outgrowth,  who  can  tell  its 
deeds.  Millions  have  felt  it.  India  in  her  jungles,  China 
in  her  temples,  savagery  in  its  wilds,  and  the  world  in 
its  great  pest  house,  have  felt  the  angel  grasp,  and  seen 
the  angel  face  of  benevolence.  But  her  heaven-power 
is  prayer.  A  power  that  crowned  heads  know  not,  Presi- 
dents feel  not,  Senators  have  not  learned,  nor 
have  governments  acknowledged,  the  power  that  moves 
the  world.  Look  at  this  picture  as  a  parenthesis. 

Go  with  us  to  the  battle-field  after  the  dread  work 
is  done.  Darkness  hangs  o'er  the  ensanguined  field,  the 
moon  is  black,  like  sack-cloth,  the  stars  refuse  to  look 
upon  the  day  scene.  The  charging  squadrons  are  now 
at  rest,  the  hoof  torn  turf  smokes  with  human  gore.  The 
thunder  of  the  deep-mouthed  cannon,  rings  not  along  the 
plain.  The  havoc  is  past,  the  battle  ended,  the  day  done 
— "ten  thousand  dead  upon  the  field,"  "twenty  thousand 
•  stricken  ones,  mangled  with  shot  and  shell,"  or  saber 
"cut  most  foul,"  lie  on  cot,  in  tent,  or  carried  to  the  rear. 
Twilight  sinks  apace,  night  settles  like  despair,  groans 
fill  the  air.  Go  to  the  tent  of  the  soldier.  There  is  one 


324  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

fresh  from  his  cottage  home — he  is  shot  to  death.  He  is 
told  that  he  may  not  pass  nine  o'clock.  Slowly,  but 
surely,  life  wastes  away.  The  eye  grows  dim,  cold  chills 
creep  towards  the  heart,  pallor  drives  back  the  blood 
from  the  lip,  the  dewy  sweat  of  death,  clammy  with  the 
the  damp  of  the  tomb,  all  tell  him  that  the  end  is  nigh. 
And  now  bright  scenes  of  childhood's  day  come  up. 
Angels  come  down  and  roll  the  stone  from  memory's 
grave,  hearthstone  teachings,  infant  prayers,  angel  whis- 
pers cluster  round  the  dying  bed.  Mother,  Saviour, 
sweetest  names  earth  ever  heard,  sweetly  blend,  and 
prayer's  power  lifts  the  soul  to  glad  glimpses  of  endless 
day.  As  the  lip  grows  stiff,  the  heart  cold,  the  spirit 
trembles  for  flight — the  last  of  earth  has  come  to  the 
boy-martyr.  He  whispers  as  death  breaks  through  the 
veil: 

"I  believe  thou  art  praying  to-night,  mother, 

I  feel  thou  art  praying  for  me, 
For  it  comes  o'er  my  soul  like  a  vision  of  light, 

Yes,  I  know  thou  art  praying  for  me. 
There's  a  chill  on  my  forehead  to-night,  mother, 

I'm  dying  far  distant  from  thee, 
But  the  star  of  my  hope  is  unclouded  and  bright, 

Because  thou  art  praying  for  me." 


BENEVOLENT   SOCIETIES. 

It  is  not  our  purpose  to  give  an  account  of  these,  as 
they  stand  out  in  history,  as  they  now  are.  Benevolence, 
"good  will,"  is  the  center  grace  of  both  time  and  eter- 
nity. All  that  is  beautiful  and  of  good  report  in  earth 
is  of  this  best  gift  of  heaven  to  man.  Everywhere,  all 
over  Christendon  are  trophies  to  "kindness"  of  which 
we  speak.  They  are  the  crowning  glory  of  this  wondrous 
age.  We  are  here  to  speak  of  the  works  of  one  of  these 
benevolent,  fraternal  societies.  The  Independent  Order 
of  Odd-Fellows.  And  here  a  word  as  to  triads,  or  trinities. 
The  best  conceptions  that  man  has  ever  had  of  the  good 
and  the  true,  has  been  as  to  its  triadity.  God  we  know 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  325 

as  a  trinity.     Father,  Son  and  Holy  Ghost.     Man  we 
know  as  body,  soul  and  spirit,  so  of  this  order. 

ODD-FELLOWSHIP. 

And  understand  us,  we  are  not  here  to  go  back  and 
trace,  step  by  step,  this  order  from  its  dawn  to  the  day 
of  its  grandeur.  Not  that  its  principles  are  obscure. 
No.  For  they  were  born  at  the  very  gates  of  Eden ;  the 
flaming  sword  could  not  cut  them  asunder.  The  flood 
sixteen  hundred  years  after  could  not  wash  them  out. 
They  lived  on.  Come  down  to  the  fair  plains  of  Shinar, 
look  into  the  tent  of  the  "father  of  the  faithful,"  and 
you  will  see  them  there.  "Abram"  was  "Odd"  in  leav- 
ing kindred  and  country,  to  go,  he  knew  not  whither. 
Yet  the  father  of  nations  climbed  Moriah's  height,  looked 
out  upon  the  cedars  of  Lebanon,  the  oaks  of  Bashan,  the 
"Lilies  of  the  valley,"  covenanted  with  God,  received  the 
promise  to  become  the  heir  of  the  world.  Or  if  yet  your 
sight  is  dim  to  see  the  beauties  in  the  ritual,  come  with 
us  to  the  cave  of  Addullam,  where  the  "Shepherd  king" 
lies  in  "hold,"  and  peep  at  the  "thirty  chiefs,"  each  of 
whom  carried  a  spear  whose  beam  overbalanced  that  of 
the  famed  Ajax,  with  point  like  Iddos  dart.  From  there 
go  with  us  up  to  the  camping  place  of  the  "feats  of 
moons." 

See  Jonathan  and  David — Jonathan  heir-apparent,  and 
Saul  his  father,  "head  and  shoulders  above  the  best  of 
the  tribes."  On  the  third  day,  "at  eve,"  the  new  moon's 
silvery  disk  just  above  the  "prison  rock" — the  "Stone 
Ezel,"  grim  as  the  site  of  Endor's  witch-hut,  rises  out 
of  the  flinty  plain,  rugged,  toppling,  awful.  Behind  it 
David  lies.  Jonathan  leaves  his  father's  angered  face, 
and  with  sad  countenance,  goes  to  meet  his  friend.  What 
scene  so  grand  ?  The  destined  king,  and  the  king's  son — 
friends,  brothers,  Odd-Fellows ;  they  make  a  covenant 
before  God.  How  grand  that  vow,  how  solemn  the  im- 
precation :  "God  do  so  to  me."  How  pure  that  love — 
"Jonathan  loved  David  as  he  loved  his  own  soul."  Out- 
casts both,  one  a  king  without  a  throne,  the  other  a  king's 
son  forsaking  his  father.  Both  outlaws,  without  house, 


326  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

home  or  kindred  that  they  could  stay  with.  The  arrow 
flew,  David's  ear  caught  the  sound  as  it  cut  the  air,  the 
cry  rang  out  "go  beyond,  the  arrow  is  beyond." 

Bethlehem's  youth,  Saul's  hero  son  met ;  stars  wit- 
nessed their  vows,  the  moon  smiled  upon  their  devotions ; 
humanity's  great  heart-organ  caught  up  the  mellow  an- 
them peal  that  burst  from  their  living  soul-lips,  and  bore 
it  o'er  the  vine-clad  hills  of  the  holy  land,  to  the  mount 
of  redemption,  and  then  on,  on,  on,  down,  down,  down, 
till  three  thousand,  two  hundred  years  snatched  the  echo, 
and  Christianity  in  diapason  wide  as  the  world  rings  out 
the  glad  theme : 

"Lord  thou  hast  been  our  dwelling  place  in  all  genera- 
tion, before  the  mountains  were  brought  forth,  or  ever 
thou  hadst  established  the  earth  and  world,  even  from 
everlasting  to  everlasting,  thou  art  God."  Brothers,  we 
speak  to  you  as  a  living,  present  order,  old  indeed  in  prin- 
ciple as  the  world:  Your  AIM,  MOTIVE,  WORK.  With 
these  we  shall  deal,  these  be  our  theme,  in  brief. 

We  were  asked  not  long  ago,  by  one  not  of  us :  "What's 
your  aim?" 

We  answered,  "To  make  men  better." 

The  objector  replied,  "That's  a  noble  aim." 

He  then  asked,  "What's  your  motive?" 

"To  make  men  think  pure  thoughts." 

"That  is  nobler  still." 

"What's  your  work?" 

"To  bind  up  broken  hearts." 

Said  he,  "That's  God-like." 

So  it  is.  But  you  have  bad  men  among  you?  All  do 
not  act  as  you  say  your  order  avows? 

We  know  it.  Bad  men  are  everywhere.  Are  the  good 
to  be  condemned  with  those  who  break  vows,  and  are 
reprobate?  What  organization  on  earth  that  is  not 
cursed  with  unworthy  members.  The  State,  and  the 
Church  both  are.  So  Odd-Fellows'  Lodges  are  weighed 
down  by  bad  members.  But  what  of  it.  One  of  the 
twelve,  Judas,  betrayed,  with  a  kiss,  the  Redeemer.  We 
now  speak  of  your 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  327 


EMBLEMS. 

"The  painted  sticks  that  make  the  vulgar  laugh."  Em- 
blems are  as  old  as  man — inspiration,  history,  tradition 
and  instinct,  alike  speak  of  them.  The  nomad  following 
his  herd,  the  savage  in  his  haunt,  the  barbarian  in  his 
tent,  and  the  dweller  in  place,  all  have  emblems.  The 
world  is  full  of  emblems,  types  and  symbols. 

To  the  initiated,  they  read  a  glorious  language.  From 
them,  as  the  grand  procession  passes  on,  we  can  tell  our 
Lieutenants,  Captains,  Chiefs  and  ruling  Patriarchs, 
typic,  symbolic,  emblematic,  all  move  in  beauteous  array. 
We  follow  not  to  name  all  our  family  jewels,  but  the 
chief  ones  only. 

THE  ARK. 

Triadic  and  glorious,  with  its  Manna,  Aaron's  Rod, 
and  the  Tables,  the  BOOK.  What  world-history,  mighty 
deeds,  grand  scenery,  it  brings  before  the  mind.  "That 
box  with  rings  in  it,  speaks  of  Sinai,"  fire.  Horeb,  Nebo, 
the  smoke,  the  flame,  the  voice  and  God,  the  "quaking 
time,"  so  terrible  that  if  a  beast  touched  the  mountain 
it  was  thrust  through  with  a  dart.  Omnipotence  and  man 
talking,  the  fast  of  forty  days,  the  fire-dipped  finger,  flam- 
ing out  from  the  face  of  the  black  cloud,  and  writing 
on  the  smooth  stone;  angels  hovering  in  myriad  groups 
around,  brought  the  grandeur  of  heaven  to  earth  and 
made  a  song-theme  for  both  time  and  eternity.  The  white 
bearded  "wrestler,"  as  he  viewed  the  wild,  dread  picture, 
shouted  out  in  such  startling  vehemence  as  to  shake 
nature:  "God  came  from  Teman  the  Holy  one  from 
Mount  Paran,  his  glory  covered  the  heavens,  and  the 
earth  was  full  of  his  praise." 

The  ark  was  made  in  the  wilderness  and  carried  in 
the  center  of  the  tribes.  Judah  in  front,  Dan  in  the  rear, 
the  other  tribes  around.  The  manna  was  in  it,  the  rod 
and  the  book.  Manna,  bread  from  heaven,  the  rod, 
God's  scourge,  the  book,  the  word  of  life — what  a  glor- 


328  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

ious  emblem.  That  was  the  disposition  of  angels,  fol- 
lowed by  forty  years  of  miracle  such  as  earth  never  be- 
fore or  since  has  witnessed — three  million  fed  by  Al- 
mighty power.  And  the  center  of  this  host — center  of 
power,  center  of  the  system,  was  the  Ark,  representative 
of  God,  glorious  as  a  cherub  from  heaven.  As  we  look 
back  upon  the  flame-lit  top  of  the  mountain,  read  its 
wonder  and  its  awe,  the  soul  warms  into  new  life,  and 
the  lip  sings  out: 

"The  Lord  our  god  is  full  of  might, 

The  winds  obey  his  will, 
He  speaks  and  in  his  heavenly  height, 

The  rolling  sun  stands  still, 
Rebel,  ye  waves,  and  o'er  the  land, 

In  threatening  accent  roar, 
The  Lord  uplifts  his  awful  hand, 

And  chains  you  to  the  shore, 
His  voice  sublime  is  heard  afar, 

In  distant  peals  it  dies, 
He  yokes  the  whirlwind  to  his  car, 

And  sweeps  the  howling  skies." 

THE  THREE  LINKS. 

Friendship,  Love  and  Truth,  a  triad  that  binds  to  God. 
Love  the  center — "God  is  Love."  In  the  center  of  the 
universe,  the  great  father,  in  his  glorious  character  of 
F.  L.  &  T.,  places  himself,  as  the  Saviour  of  all.  His 
everlasting  arms  extend,  earth  and  heavenward,  one  full 
of  friendship  to  raise  men  up,  the  other  stretches  out  to 
the  blue  perennial,  to  bring  truth  down  to  man.  Thus 
heaven  and  earth  through  love,  are  made  to  clasp  glad 
hands,  and  the  song  of  the  skies  is  the  anthem  of  earth. 
Friendship,  Love  and  Truth  produce  a  common  brother- 
hood— bird,  beast  and  man;  when  shorn  of  their  savage 
ire,  bow  at  a  common  altar,  yield  ascriptic  praise. 

And  as  golden  sun  rays  shine  along,  and  light  the  com- 
ing day,  matinic  lay  from  forest  warbler,  the  mellow  low- 
ing of  herd  and  flock,  and  the  jubilant  note  from  brother 
man,  are  heard  to  sing  the  enfranchised  song,  "Friend- 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  329 

ship,  Love  and  Truth."  Brothers,  the  work  of  your 
noble  order  is  to  bind  up  the  broken-hearted,  to  touch 
to  life  the  broken  shrines,  to  gather  ashes  of  lost  and 
scattered  urns,  and  place  them  in  the  temple  of  love.  O ! 
how  the  heart  bleeds  as  we  look  at  the  fallen  ones,  shorn 
of  the  God-like,  left  half  dead  in  earth's  dark  places. 
Well  did  that  great  Irish  poet  sing  as  he  looked  upon 
his  fallen  brother — thrust  from  the  palace  hall  to  the 
gutter — wounded  and  dying,  a  diamond  among  cobble- 
stones, a  jewel  in  filth.  As  he  looked,  his  music-touched 
soul  threw  upon  the  air  that  wailing  cadence : 

"The  harp  that  once  through  Tara's  hall 

The  soul  of  music  shed, 
Now  hangs  as  mute  on  Tara's  wall 

As  if  that  soul  were  fled. 
So  sleeps  the  pride  of  former  days, 

So  glory's  thrill  is  o'er, 
And  hearts  that  once  beat  high  for  praise, 

Now  feel  that  pulse  no  more." 

O!  humanity,  how  many  wounds  are  thine,  how  sore 
are  thy  afflictions.  To-day,  war-threatened,  plague- 
scourged,  thy  soul  cries  for  help  in  piteous  strains. 
Brothers,  let  us  up,  and,  with  full  souls,  go  to  the  rescue. 
Look  at  New  York,  Philadelphia  and  Cincinnati,  and 
see  gaunt-faced  death  do  its  work,  in  dark  allies,  dank 
cellars  two  stories  under  ground.  Such  a  view  will  do 
you  good,  your  zeal  will  be  kindled  anew,  your  soul 
touched,  and  you  will  go  to  work. 

We  speak  not  of  your  work  in  dollars  and  cents ;  your 
published  records  tell  the  world  what  you  have  done  in 
that  direction.  Marble  halls,  with  turret,  dome  and  spire 
pointing  to  the  blue  above,  speak  by  the  million  in  moneyed 
investments.  Your  schools,  orphans  and  benevolence,  that 
the  uninitiated  know  not  of,  cost  millions  of  money. 
But  your  power  is  moral — that's  your  great  power.  And 
such  a  triad  of  scourges  rise  before  you — lying,  steal- 
ing, swearing — that  is  sweeping  the  youth  of  the  land  to 
unknown  seas,  out  of  hearing  of  the  gavel,  out  of  reach 
of  the  church,  and  away  from  the  life-joy  of  heaven ;  and 


33°  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

as  they  rise  to  man's  estate  they  are  met  by  a  triad  of 
woes — drunkenness,  murder,  treason — that  leads  them 
from  the  State,  the  Church  and  the  Lodgeroom,  blights 
their  homes,  their -peace  and  their  hope,  and  consigns 
them  to  misery,  death  and  hell.  Brothers,  we  charge  you 
by  all  the  hallowed  instincts  of  the  Lodgeroom,  by  the 
wooing  of  friendship,  love  and  truth,  by  the  light  of  faith, 
the  power  of  love  and  the  joys  of  hope,  to  oppose,  with  a 
zeal  that  knows  no  languor,  these  terrible  wrongs — lying, 
stealing,  swearing,  drunkenness,  murder,  treason.  Our 
day — the  State,  the  Church  and  benevolence,  all  urge 
you  to  this.  Will  you  do  it?  We  urge  you  by  all  the 
conditions  of  the  past,  the  bright  fruition  of  the  future, 
to  do  it.  We  are  in  Time's  great  vestibule — the  Temple 
Age  lies  before  us.  The  days  of  Sinai  are  just  upon  us 
again ;  history  is  repeating  itself.  The  seven  thunders, 
sealed  up  eighteen  hundred  years  ago,  are  now  uttering 
their  redemptive  voices.  The  grand  old,  song  of  the 
wrestling  bard  again  stirs  the  nations,  its  swelling  sym- 
phonies wake  the  winds  chained  at  the  four  corners  of 
the  earth,  and  they  bear  upon  their  flaming  wings  the 
Monarch-March : 

"God  came  from  Teman  the  holy  one  from  Mount 
Paran,  His  glory  covered  the  heavens,  and  the  earth  was 
full  of  His  praise."  The  Messianic  shout  is  just  burst- 
ing upon  us,  the  kingdom  that  is  to  extend  from  sea  to 
sea  and  from  the  rivers  to  the  ends  of  the  earth  is  dawn- 
ing upon  a  crying  world. 

And  finally,  my  brothers,  as  you  rise  at  the  sound  of 
the  gavel,  and  stand  uncovered,  let  us  pledge  anew,  and 
as  hand  clasps  hand,  in  brother-greeting,  let  the  silent 
pressure  bind  our  hearts  in  one  great  brotherhood.  Let 
us,  while  in  this  temple,  work  of  our  own  hand-craft, 
feel,  that  it  is  but  an  emblem,  a  type,  of  the  temple  of 
the  coming  age — that  age,  the  brightness  of  whose  com- 
ing is  now  radiating  all  above  and  around  with  the  golden 
light  of  endless  day.  Let  us  catch  in  heart- joy  the  won- 
drous re-genesis  song  that,  near  two  thousand  years  ago, 
rang  out  from  the  blue  Aegean  sea,  to  gladden  earth 
and  herald  the  consummation.  Let  our  souls  be  wrapped 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  331 

away,  till  we  see  by  faith's  pure  light  the  descending 
temple,  and  hear  the  sweet  strains  of  heaven  and  earth's 
anthem  pealing  through  the  skies :  "And  I  saw  a  new 
heaven  and  a  new  earth,  for  the  first  heaven  and  the 
first  earth  were  passed  away  and  there  is  no  more  sea. 
*  *  *  And  I  saw  the  holy  city  coming  down  from 
God  out  of  heaven.  *  *  *  And  I  heard  a  great  voice 
saying,  Behold  the  tabernacle  of  God  is  with  men,  and 
He  will  dwell  with  them  and  they  shall  be  His  people, 
and  God  shall  be  with  them  and  be  their  God.  *  *  * 
And  there  shall  be  no  more  death,  neither  crying,  nor 
sorrow,  nor  shall  there  be  any  more  pain,  for  the  former 
things  have  passed  away.  *  *  *  He  that  sat  upon 
the  throne  said,  "Behold,  I  make  all  things  new."  Two 
worlds  know  our  vows  and  urge  us  to  work.  Two  eter- 
nities look  upon  us  and  urge  us  to  work.  The  times, 
"wondrous  with  God  in  them,"  urge  us  to  work.  The  past 
with  its  warnings,  the  present  with  its  perils,  the  future 
with  its  bliss,  all  urge  us  to  work.  Friendship,  Love 
and  Truth  stand,  "proud  in  armor  bright,"  ear  well 
attuned  to  the  gavel  sound,  and  cry  "Work!"  Lis- 
tening, too,  to  the  world's  last  rolling  diapason,  as  it 
thunders  from  the  skies,  mutters  from  the  deep,  and  roars 
earth-wide — work,  for 

"We  are  living,  we  are  moving ; 

In  a  grand  eventful  time, 
In  an  age  on  ages  telling, 

To  be  living  is  sublime. 
Hark !  the  waking  up  of  nations, 

Truth  and  error  to  the  fray, 
Hark!  what  soundeth?  'tis  creation, 

Groaning  for  its  latter  day. 
Hark!  the  onset!  will  ye  fold  your 

Faith-clad  arms  in  lazy  lock  ? 
Up !  O,  Up !  thou  drowsy  soldier, 

Worlds  are  charging  to  the  shock, 
Worlds  are  charging,  Heaven  beholding : 

Thou  hast  but  an  hour  to  fight ; 
Now,  the  blazoned  cross  unfolding, 

On!  right  onward  for  the  fight. 


RECEPTION  SPEECH  OF  JESSE  HARPER,  ESQ., 

TO  THE  RETURNED  VOLUNTEERS  OF 

WARREN  COUNTY. 


DELIVERED  AT  WEST  LEBANON,  AUGUST   I/TH,    l86l. 


(Reported  for  The  Republican.) 

Officers  and  Soldiers  of  the  Warren  Guards: 

By  request,  and  on  behalf  of  this  assembly  of  your 
fellow  citizens,  and  of  the  people  of  Warren  county,  I 
extend  to  you  to-day  their  cordial  "welcome  home." 
We  welcome  you  to  tender  sympathies,  to  hearts  that 
beat  responsive  to  yours,  to  all  the  comforts  and  endear- 
ments of  home,  to  the  warm  embraces  of  your  families 
and  friends,  and  the  congratulations  of  neighbors,  on 
your  return  from  your  short  but  glorious  campaign.  We 
welcome  you  to  basket  and  to  store,  to  all  social  influences, 
to  a  common  brotherhood.  The  deeds  which  you  have 
done,  and  the  work  which  you  have  accomplished,  have 
given  you  a  claim  and  a  hold  upon  the  hearts  of  the 
people.  Would  that  I  could  express  to  you  all  that  is 
meant  by  the  welcome  which  is  extended  to  you  to-day 
by  the  citizens  of  Warren.  We  welcome  you  home. 

Let  us  briefly  go  back  over  the  history  of  the  past 
four  months,  during  the  most  of  which  you  have  been 
absent  from  us.  On  the  I5th  of  April  last,  the  executive 
of  the  country,  surrounded  by  extraordinary  circum- 
stances, issued  his  proclamation  calling  upon  the  people 
to  stand  by  and  defend  the  government,  and  the  capitol, 
then  in  eminent  peril,  and  to  rally  around  its  insulted  flag. 
You  nobly  sprang  into  the  breach.  No  mercenary  calcu- 
lations deterred  you,  no  selfish  considerations  of  personal 
interest,  or  business  engagements,  no  attachments  to 
family,  friends  or  home,  no  slothful  regards  for  the  com- 

33* 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  333 

forts  and  allurements  of  domestic  life  weighed  with  you 
against  the  calls  of  patriotism.  In  less  than  six  days 
after  the  President's  proclamation  was  issued  you  were 
ready  to  march,  laying  your  lives,  and  all  you  held  most 
dear,  upon  the  altar  of  your  country. 

You  became  such  heroes,  actuated  by  a  like  spirit  as 
I  once  read  of  in  a  most  thrilling  narrative.  On  the 
far-off  coast  of  Africa  a  party  of  one  hundred  and  sev- 
enty-five men  with  their  wives  and  children  encountered 
a  terrific  storm — a  hurricane  which  swept  the  ocean  like 
the  voice  of  God.  As  in  its  fury  the  howling  storm  rushed 
by  the  devoted  vessel  in  which  they  were  embarked,  the 
captain  assembled  his  men  on  deck,  and  informed  them 
that  she  must  go  down.  The  boats  were  got  ready  to 
launch,  and  in  them  they  placed  the  women  and  children 
with  only  a  sufficient  number  of  men  to  enable  them  to 
reach  the  land.  All  were  calm  in  that  hour  of  danger, 
almost  despair;  none  tho't  or  attempted  to  save  their  lives 
by  taking  the  places  of  the  frailer  ones  who  depended 
on  them.  There  they  stood,  that  devoted  crew,  with  a 
heroism  of  soul  which  enabled  them  to  meet  death  with- 
out a  shudder — as  heroes  only  can.  The  frail  boats 
pushed  off  with  their  precious  helpless  burdens,  and 
while  yet  in  sight,  before  they  had  reached  the  land, 
the  ship  went  down  with  all  on  board,  amid  the  gurgling 
surges  of  the  mighty  deep.  But,  oh,  what  a  glorious 
resurrection  will  be  theirs,  in  that  day  when  the  true 
and  the  brave  shall  come  forth,  pure  as  a  sunbeam,  clad 
in  robes  of  life  everlasting.  You  have  been  yourselves 
such  men,  may  the  best  joys  of  earth  be  yours  with  bliss 
immortal  hereafter. 

Times  come  in  the  history  of  nations  when  man  is 
raised  above  selfish  motives.  This  was  one  of  them. 
Such  times  make  heroes.  The  ancients  elevated  these 
heroes  into  demi-gods  and  erected  to  them  temples  and 
altars.  In  this  more  enlightened  age  we  call  them  pa- 
triots— a  nobler  name — and  such  are  you.  I  remember 
the  day  you  left  us.  There  were  many  anxious  hearts, 
and  many  tears  were  shed,  but  no  one,  not  even  a  mother 
or  a  wife,  said  to  son  or  husband,  "Stay,  go  not  forth," 


334  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

nor  upon  a  single  cheek  of  yours  was  seen  the  paleness 
of  fear  or  a  sign  of  quailing. 

But  the  scene  changes.  You  are  in  camp  at  Indian- 
apolis. The  country  is  convulsed — the  danger  has  come 
suddenly  and  unexpected — preparations  have  not  been 
made  for  your  comfort.  Your  food  is  poor,  your  accom- 
modations are  insufficient — the  rain  beats  upon  you  and 
the  frost  chills  you ;  you  knew  the  comforts  that  waited 
for  you  at  home,  but  having  put  your  hands  to  the  plow, 
you  turned  not  back.  You  remained  through  all  the 
hardships  of  camp  life  faithful  to  your  obligations,  faith- 
ful to  your  country  and  to  yourselves.  At  last  the  order 
you  had  so  patiently  and  anxiously  waited  for,  came.  You 
were  ordered  to  march.  In  a  few  hours  you  were  landed 
in  an  enemy's  country.  It  was  truly  an  enemy's  country. 
All  war  is  terrible  and  sanguinary,  but  no  war  that  ever 
was  waged  on  earth  is  equal  to  this.  This  is  civil  war 
in  its  worst  form.  The  enemies  against  which  you 
marched  were  actuated  by  the  worst  passions.  The  war 
had  its  origin  in  the  same  ambition  which  impelled  Satan 
to  rebel  against  the  King  of  Heaven.  You  were  sur- 
rounded by  blood-thirsty  and  stealthy  foes.  'No  one 
knew  when  he  might  be  shot  down  from  behind  some 
ambuscade.  Every  tree  and  bush  might  conceal  a  foe. 
But  you  quailed  not. 

At  last  you  met  the  enemy  superior  in  numbers,  and 
boasting  of  their  superiority  in  everything,  you  met 
them  on  their  own  soil,  in  the  position  chosen  by  them- 
selves, defended  by  their  breastworks,  and  under  cover  of 
their  artillery,  and  the  name  of  Rich  Mountain  will  ever 
be  memorable  for  the  glorious  victory  you  gained.  It 
makes  us  proud  this  day  that  you  are  our  fellow  citi- 
zens. We  are  proud  of  our  country,  proud  that  In- 
dianians  there  fought  and  conquered,  proud  of  our  coun- 
try, and  proud  of  you.  No  man  could  stand  out  in 
the  common  road,  in  the  face  of  a  foe,  with  cannon  com- 
manding it  charged  with  deadly  grape  shot,  and  not  feel 
the  emotion  of  fear  unless  actuated  by  the  highest  mo- 
tives. In  such  a  situation  you  did  stand,  and  you  charged 
gallantly  forward,  routing  your  boasting  enemies  and 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  335 

scattering  them  to  the  wind.  The  three  hundred  Spartans 
who  fought  at  Thermopalae  are  immortal  in  history,  and 
will  live  forever  in  the  memory  of  mankind.  They  fought 
for  their  country;  you  stand  upon  the  same  platform, 
and  your  deeds  will  live.  We  thank  God  to-day,  that 
unlike  that  band  of  ancient  heroes,  you  have  all  returned 
to  your  homes.  Some,  indeed,  fell  in  the  glorious  strife, 
and  their  spirits  I  shall  expect  to  meet  on  the  great  plains 
of  felicity,  but  you  are  here  unharmed  to  receive  the  con- 
gratulations of  friends,  and  the  well-earned  plaudit, 
"well  done,  good  and  faithful  servants  of  your  country," 
we  render  to  the  great  Father  of  us  all,  our  heartfelt 
thanks  to-day,  for  this  crowning  mercy. 

And  now,  fellow  citizens,  having  in  your  name  wel- 
comed back  to  home  and  friends  those  true  men  in  whom 
we  all  feel  so  deep  an  interest,  let  us  endeavor  from 
the  present  situation  of  our  country  to  learn  a  lesson, 
which  I  verily  believe  God  is  intending  to  teach  us. 

Let  us  take  a  brief  view  of  the  history  of  ancient  na- 
tions, nations  that  have  arisen,  flourished  upon  earth,  that 
we  may,  now  that  the  Almighty  is  shaking  us  like  a  fig 
tree,  learn  upon  what  rock  they  have  split  and  avoid 
the  danger.  We  are  in  the  midst  of  war — of  war  fierce, 
bloody,  intensified  by  every  passion  that  can  lend  it 
horror  and  make  it  sanguinary.  It  is  as  if  some  new  vol- 
cano had  suddenly  reared  its  head  and  vomited  forth 
its  burning  lava  over  a  peaceful  and  happy  country.  Upon 
this  subject  of  war  there  has  been  a  difference  of  opinion. 
Some  have  even  supposed  that  war  is  the  normal  condi- 
tion of  mankind.  Others  have  taken  the  other  extreme 
and  declared  for  the  doctrine  of  non-resistance.  But  by 
most  sensible  men  the  medium  ground  that  war  is  only 
justifiable  in  self-defence  is  assumed  as  correct.  The 
first  great  nation  which  appeared  upon  the  earth  was 
the  empire  of  the  Assyrians.  They  waged  wars  for 
purpose  of  aggression  and  conquest.  They  extended  their 
dominion  over  vast  territories.  They  built  their  magnifi- 
cent capital  and  reveled  in  power,  splendor  and  luxury 
such  as  no  nation  under  heaven  had  ever  enjoyed,  and 
when  they  had  reached  the  very  hight  of  prosperity  then 


336  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

King  Nebuchadnezzer  exclaimed  in  the  pride  of  his  heart, 
"Is  not  this  great  Babylon  which  I  have  built."  Here 
was  their  culminating  point.  Just  then  the  Almighty 
raised  up  the  Medo  Persian  power,  and  Cyrus  came  forth 
as  his  instrument  to  vindicate  His  claim  to  be  the  sover- 
eign of  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world.  Great  Babylon 
is  fallen  and  her  ruins  can  scarcely  be  distinguished. 
Her  name  is  blotted  out,  because  her  kings  gave  not 
God  the  glory.  There  is  a  God  in  Israel,  let  us  rely  on 
Him. 

The  Medo  Persian  empire,  when  its  heart  was  swollen 
with  pride,  and  it  had  answered  the  purposes  of  the  Al- 
mighty, also  fell  before  the  victorious  Greeks.  The  Jap- 
hetic tribe  of  man  triumphed  over  the  Asiatic.  Greece 
had  its  Philip  and  Alexander,  who,  entering  upon  a  career 
of  mad  ambition,  overran  the  world,  but  they  had  no 
thought  of  God  in  all  their  conquests,  and  Alexander 
died  a  miserable  spectacle  of  the  littleness  of  human 
greatness,  and  the  Greek  Empire  perished.  Then  arose 
the  iron  power  of  Rome.  While  Rome  fought  only  for 
her  rights  she  did  well.  But  her  ambition  was  unbounded. 
She  levied  contributions  on  all  nations,  and  gathered  all 
their  gods  in  the  capitol,  but  they  could  not  save  her. 
The  true  God  was  not  honored  in  her  triumphs,  and  hav- 
ing, as  she  fondly  imagined,  conquered  the  world,  she 
perished  before  the  hordes  of  northern  barbarians  turned 
loose  for  her  destruction.  Then  followed  ten  centuries 
of  darkness,  until  Luther  sprang  forth — when  the  fires 
of  persecution  were  kindled,  and  the  sword  was  whetted, 
and  the  blood  of  martyrs  was  poured  forth  at  Smithfield 
and  St.  Bartholomew.  During  all  this  time  the  great 
idea  had  been  that  governments  were  made  over  men. 
Now  a  few  individuals  came  across  the  stormy  Atlantic, 
and  founded  an  empire  on  other  principles. 

They  proclaimed  that  governments  were  founded 
among  men  and  derived  their  powers  from  the  consent  of 
the  governed,  and  they  acknowledged  God  as  the  Sov- 
ereign of  the  universe,  the  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of 
lords.  Let  us  go  back  to  Lexington  and  Bunker  Hill. 
The  men  who  fought  there  were  inspired  by  true  patriot- 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  337 

ism.  They  loved  the  flag  of  their  country ;  oh !  that  men 
would  love  it  now  as  they  did  then,  and  oh!  that  men 
would  now,  like  Washington,  with  bended  knees  implore 
the  blessing  of  the  Almighty  before  entering  upon  the 
bloody  conflict. 

Let  us  learn  a  lesson  from  the  Swiss  Cantons.  Look 
at  them  as  they  go  into  war,  even  as  they  join  the  deadly 
conflict.  How  sublime,  yet  how  humble  the  position  of 
a  whole  army  on  bended  knees  in  the  face  of  the  enemy, 
and  in  simple,  confiding,  trusting  language  chant  in  the 
sweet  carols  of  the  Alp  peasant : 

"God  of  Justice  see  us, 
Father,  dear,  now  hear  us. 
In  Thee  we  trust. 
The  battle  Thou  must  order 
The  arm  of  flesh  will  fail, 
But  Thou  alone  our  Father, 
Can  make  our  foes  to  quail." 

This  humble  position  of  the  confiding  Swiss  led  the 
haughty  Austrians  to  suppose  they  supplicated  for  mercy, 
and  in  their  ignorance  they  rushed  down  upon  the  pray- 
ing peasants.  But  when  within  reach  of  the  iron-nerved 
mountaineers,  that  patriot  band  arose  and  as  by  the  im- 
pulse of  one  man  like  a  shaft  of  death  they  dashed  upon 
the  foe,  and  down  went  the  haughty  oppressor  with  such 
a  slaughter  as  that  which  took  place  on 
"Ajalon's  height  when  the  sun  in  the  heavens  stood  still." 

We  talk  of  the  superior  resources  of  the  north.  We 
trust  in  our  own  advantages — we  say  that  we  have  better 
men,  and  the  most  money,  and  timber  for  ships,  and  the 
best  artillery — but  all  this  will  avail  us  nothing  if  we 
do  not  remember  that  there  is  a  God  in  Israel.  Look  at 
the  battle  of  Bull  Run.  Our  men  thought  they  had 
won  a  glorious  victory.  They  were  congratulating  them- 
selves on  their  victory — they  had  driven  back  the  enemy, 
the  day  was  theirs — when  suddenly,  there  is  a  confusion, 
men's  hearts  fail  them  for  fear,  the  victors  are  terror- 
stricken,  they  fall  back,  the  retreat  becomes  a  rout.  The 


338  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

men  who  were  just  now  congratulating  each  other  fly  for 
their  lives,  they  imagine  that  the  whole  south,  men, 
women  and  children,  are  at  their  heels,  and  never  stop 
until  they  have  clambered  over  the  fortifications  on  the 
Potomac — they  have  made  a  distance  in  six  hours  which 
it  took  them  four  days  to  advance  over,  and  now  they 
look  back  and  no  one  is  pursuing  them. 

[Here  the  orator  gave  a  very  amusing  imitation  of 
the  flight  and  climbing  the  breastworks,  which  it  was  im- 
possible to  report] 

Why  was  all  this  ?  They  had  desecrated  God's  holy  day 
and  gone  forth  in  their  own  strength,  and  he  had  turned 
them  back,  and  bid  them  know  that  there  is  a  God  in 
Israel. 

There  is  yet  another  thing  we  want  and  that  is  more 
true  patriotism.  We  must  stop  talking  about  the  bur- 
den of  taxes.  We  want  such  patriotism  as  Hancock  had, 
when  his  property  was  all  in  danger  in  Boston — when  he 
said,  let  John  Hancock's  property  all  sink  if  it  will  benefit 
my  country.  Men  have  got  to  pile  up  all  their  possessions 
in  one  heap,  and  get  on  top  of  it,  and  make  it  an  altar, 
and  themselves  a  sacrifice  to  their  country.  The  man  who 
at  this  time  can  talk  or  think  about  the  loss  of  property 
for  the  sake  of  the  public  good  is  no  better  than  an  oyster, 
and  should  have  lived  in  that  pre-Adamite  period  when 
there  were  no  living  things  but  those  of  the  oyster  type. 

May  God  kindle  the  fire  of  patriotism  in  the  heart  of 
every  man  and  woman  in  America — may  love  of  country 
burn  upon  the  hearts  of  the  people  in  as  bright  a  flame  as 
it  did  in  the  days  that  tried  men's  souls!  May  such  a 
sacrifice  be  offered  up  from  the  humble  heart  of  this 
great  people,  as  will  bring  God  once  more  among  us! 
May  we  feel  his  Almighty  arm  beneath  us,  as  it  was  in 
that  day  when  he  held  up  Washington  and  his  little  army ! 
May  the  fires  of  '76  once  more  burn  !  May  love  of  country 
once  more  revive !  May  the  glory  of  our  arms  inspire  us ! 
May  the  rich  halo  which  surrounds  our  old  flag  illuminate 
our  hearts!  May  we  as  a  people  rise  above  every  consid- 
eration that  is  detrimental  to  our  country !  And  in  God's 
name  let  us  pledge  life,  property,  every  earthly  good — 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  339 

let  the  glory  of  Lexington,  Bunker  Hill,  Yorktown  be 
the  glory  of  the  zvhole  nation,  and  sooner  than  have  them 
divided  and  claimed  by  two  nations — sooner  than  this 
disgrace  befall  us,  let  us  immolate  the  nation,  pile  up  the 
millions  of  men  and  property  in  a  vast  heap  toward 
heaven  and,  standing  upon  it,  acknowledge  "united  we 
stand,  but  divided  we  fall"  to  rise  no  more. 


THE  MONTICELLO,  IND.,  "SPECTATOR"  PRO- 
POSES NAME  OF  HAPER  FOR  LIEU- 
TENANT GOVERNOR. 

"We  take  pleasure  in  announcing  the  name  of  Jesse 
Harper,  of  Warren  county,  as  a  candidate  for  Lieutenant 
Governor  before  the  approaching  State  Convention  at 
Indianapolis.  Mr.  Harper  is  well  qualified  for  the  posi- 
tion. His  ability  as  a  debater  has  won  for  him  a  host  of 
friends  wherever  he  has  appeared  in  public.  If  nomi- 
nated, he  would  consider  it  his  duty  to  canvass  the  entire 
State  in  behalf  of  the  Republican  cause,  and  we  hazard 
nothing  in  saying  that  very  few  men  could  be  found  who 
would  labor  more  effectually. 

In  the  coming  contest,  the  hope  that  a  powerful  polit- 
ical party  may  be  crushed,  whose  corruptions  exceed  all 
parallel,  depends  upon  the  nomination  of  men  who  are 
able  and  willing  to  spread  the  truths  and  principles  of 
the  Republican  party  into  the  remote  recesses  of  ignor- 
ance ;  men  who  are  not  afraid  to  arm  themselves  with 
truth  and  go  out  to  meet  the  whisky  shamocracy;  men 
who  believe  and  act  upon  the  principle  that  truth  is  a 
sufficient  weapon  to  use  in  behalf  of  right  and  justice. 

Jesse  Harper  is  a  zealous  Republican,  an  able  orator, 
and  an  industrious  man.  The  announcement  of  his  name 
will  give  satisfaction  wherever  he  is  known,  and  if  nomi- 
nated he  will  be  known  over  the  whole  State  before  the 
election." — February  8,  1860. 


A  TEMPERANCE  LETTER. 

WlLLIAMSPORT,    IA.,   July    ISt,    1858. 

DEAR  CHIEF:  We  have  had  a  good  time  in  our  little 
town.  Temperance  men  feel  encouraged,  while  the  re- 
tailers of  rum  have  been  led  to  reflect  a  little,  to  say  the 
least.  S.  M.  Hewlett  was  with  us  last  evening,  and  for 
two  hours  we  were,  to  a  great  extent,  entranced.  Elo- 
quence, logical  argument,  and  warmth  of  feeling,  went 
hand-in-hand,  the  whole  interspersed  with  such  racy, 
pithy,  life-drawn  anecdotes,  as  made  the  two  hours 
seem  as  but  a  passing  moment.  His  argument  in  favor 
of  prohibition  was  unanswerable,  and  just  in  time  for  this 
locality — while  his  forcible  appeals  and  sound  reasoning 
against  that  iniquitous,  death-dealing,  sorrow-producing 
system — the  license  system — was  such  as  to  make  glad 
the  heart  of  every  lover  of  our  great  reform.  We  feel 
to  rejoice,  because  the  principles  of  prohibition,  notwith- 
standing the  judicial  array  that  has  been  made  against 
them,  still  live,  and  have  as  warm,  faithful  champions, 
as  now  walk  the  face  of  the  green  earth. 

Truckling,  time-serving  politicians,  may,  and  undoubt- 
edly will  oppose  the  true  principles  of  temperance,  and, 
through  duplicity,  draw  many  unassuming,  good  men 
after  them.  Still,  the  temperance  reformation  is  onward, 
and  will  continue  to  go  forward  till  the  liquor  traffic  is 
swept  from  the  land. 

In  this  section  of  our  State,  we  are  working — waking 
up.  We  have  been  crippled  by  our  courts — our  pro- 
hibitory law  killed — but  the  friends  of  that  law  were 
not  killed  with  it.  No ;  verily.  And  notwithstanding  we 
were  greatly  cast  down,  and  worried  by  our  houndish 
foes,  nearly  to  death;  yet,  Indiana,  like  the  sleeping 
Phoenix,  will  arise  from  her  ashes,  and  scatter  these  ad- 

340 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  341 

vocates  of  human  misery,  pauperism  and  death,  to  the 
four  winds.  The  work  is  already  begun. 

Fifty-eight,  in  Indiana,  will  be  a  stirring  time,  espe- 
cially the  latter  half.  Temperance  men  are  now  demand- 
ing of  the  great  political  parties,  that  they  put  up  sound 
temperance  men  for  office,  if  they  expect  their  candi- 
dates to  be  voted  for  by  the  advocates  of  this  reforma- 
tion. If  temperance  men  are  but  firm,  half  the  work 
of  destroying  the  monster  is  already  accomplished.  They 
have  been  too  vacillating.  This  want  of  firmness  has1 
injured  the  cause,  much.  And  now  mark  what  I  say: 
If  such  men  are  not  put  up  by  the  present  parties  in 
this  State,  the  consequence  will  be,  that  in  many  of  the 
counties,  the  dominant  parties  will  be  beaten  and  tem- 
perance candidates  elected.  It  should  be  so  everywhere, 
for  we  have  nothing  to  lose,  but  much  to  gain  by  elect- 
ing temperance  men. 

I  will  close  this  already  too  long  and  scattered  let- 
ter; and  at  another  time  give  the  general  features  of 
the  reform  in  this  State.  We  gave  a  public  invitation 
to  Mr.  Hewlett  and  he  has  promised  to  be  with  us  again 
in  September,  when  we  expect  to  have  a  good  time,  for 
we  shall  prepare  for  it  from  this  time  on.  May  success 
attend  friend  and  co-laborer  Hewlett,  and  may  the  great 
and  glorious  reformation  prosper  in  his  hand.  May 
he  be  long  spared  for  the  work,  for  he  is  armed  and 
equipped  at  every  point,  and  is  fully  equal  to  the  great 
task  he  has  bound  himself  to  perform.  The  advocates 
of  license  who  fall  into  his  hands  are  wiped  out  so  ef- 
fectually, that  they  are  not  found  afterward  at  all.  May 
temperance  men  stand  firm,  be  persevering  and  united ; 
may  they  ever  be  found  on  the  rock  that  can  never  be 
shaken — Prohibition.  Then  shall  the  work  go  on  in  spite 
of  all  opposition ;  and  we  younger  ones  of  the  mighty 
army  see  the  glorious  sight — "No  rumseller,  nor  place 
where  the  poison  of  death  is  sold."  HARPER. 


HON.  WM.  R.  BOYER. 

Mr.  Harper  gives  sympathetic  words  on  the  death  of 
Judge  Wm.  R.  Boyer. 

Oh  the  first  day  of  February,  1861,  Hon.  B.  F.  Gregory 
announced  the  death  of  the  Hon.  Wm.  F.  Boyer,  late 
judge  of  the  District  Court  of  the  Warren  Co.,  Ind.,  ju- 
dicial district,  and  moved  that  the  court  appoint  a  com- 
mittee of  five  to  draft  resolutions  expressive  of  the  loss 
and  sorrow  of  the  court  and  attorneys.  Mr.  Harper  was 
appointed  on  that  committee. 

The  resolutions  having  been  drawn  and  read,  Jesse 
Harper,  Esq.,  arose  and  said  that  he  could  not  permit 
the  occasion  to  pass  without  adding  a  word  expressive 
of  his  estimation  of  Judge  Boyer's  character,  and  an 
acknowledgment  of  the  many  kindnesses  he  had  received 
from  him  when  a  young  man  just  commencing  the  prac- 
tice of  his  profession.  My  acquaintance  with  Judge 
Boyer,  said  Mr.  H.,  commenced  in  1850,  when  he  was 
clerk  of  the  court,  and  I  was  a  young  attorney.  My 
pathway  seemed  dark  in  the  future,  and  I  was  ready  to 
shrink  from  the  attempt  to  combat  with  the  matured 
and  experienced  minds  of  those  who  had  already  suc- 
ceeded at  the  bar.  I  needed  a  friend,  and  I  found  one 
in  Wm.  R.  Boyer.  I  opened  my  heart  to  him,  and  he 
said,  "go  on  in  the  path  you  have  marked  out — and  you 
will  succeed."  "Persevere  in  an  upright  and  honest 
course  and  success  is  certain."  One  of  the  most  beau- 
tiful traits  in  Judge  Boyer's  character  was  his  kindness 
to  young  members  of  the  bar.  He  gave  them  advice, 
overlooked  their  errors  and  mistakes,  and  his  kind  and 
encouraging  look  seemed  constantly  to  say  to  them, 
"come  up  higher."  We  were  intimate  friends  until  his 
death.  It  has  been  but  a  few  days  since  we  conversed 
together  on  the  dangers  which  threaten  our  country. 

342 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  343 

Wm.  R.  Boyer  loved  his  country  as  a  man  loves  his 
friend.  The  death  of  no  one  ever  moved  me  with  such 
power.  Is  he  indeed  gone!  Are  his  lips  sealed  forever! 
Truly  "in  the  midst  of  life  we  are  in  death."  And  in 
this  connection  I  cannot  forbear  to  allude  to  the  absence 
of  one  whose  familiar  form  is  not  seen  in  his  accustomed 
place.  Judge  Boyer  is  dead,  and  the  ablest  attorney  at 
this  bar,  Robt.  A.  Chandler,  lies  upon  a  bed  of  languish- 
ing. He,  too,  we  miss  in  this  court  of  justice  in  which 
he  has  been  so  many  years  a  prominent  figure.  These 
circumstances  admonish  us  to  be  up  and  doing  and  to 
look  well  to  our  steps.  Wm.  R.  Boyer  is  dead.  The 
bench  has  lost  one  of  its  brightest  ornaments,  and  the 
community  a  MAN  in  the  highest  sense  of  the  term. 

Mr.  Harper  moved  that  Mr.  Nourse  be  requested  to 
report  the  proceedings  of  the  court  for  publication  and 
the  court  adjourned, 


"DAILY  COURIER"  (IND.)  ON  HARPER'S  LEC- 
TURE. 

The  Daily  Courier,  of  January  18,  1860,  had  the 
following  notice  of  the  lecture: 

Everybody  was  delighted  with  Harper's  lecture  last 
evening.  He  wields  a  polished  blade.  His  lecture  is  pro- 
nounced the  most  entertaining  and  instructive  with  which 
Lafayette  has  been  favored  for  years.  What  is  the  use 
of  going  abroad  for  high-priced  talent  when  a  better 
article  can  be  had  nearer  home? 

Hon.  Jesse  Harper,  of  Williamsport,  Ind.,  recently  de- 
livered a  lecture  before  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation of  Lafayette,  on  the  Gentile  World.  It  is  very 
highly  spoken  of  by  the  Lafayette  Journal. 


THE  LECTURE. 

Hon.  Jesse  L.  Harper's  lecture  before  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  last  evening  was  largely  attended. 
The  subject,  "The  Gentile  World,"  was  handled  as  only 
Mr.  Harper  can  handle  it.  He  took  the  ground  that  the 
Christian  church  of  the  present  day  was  wrong  in  the- 
ory and  -practice  concerning  many  of  the  leading  ques- 
tions of  public  interest.  No  Christian  should  engage  in 
war,  or  in  any  way  associate  himself  with  that  which  is 
evil.  Wars  and  strifes  belong  to  the  men  of  the  world, 
and  should  be  settled  by  them.  The  crimes  of  the  age 
are  multiplying  because  of  the  laxity  of  the  church.  Mur- 
der, theft,  Sabbath-breaking  and  profanity  are  on  the 
increase.  Men  are  degenerating  morally,  physically  and 
financially.  Nations  are  groaning  under  enormous  debts, 
and  matters  are  going  at  loose  ends  generally.  The  lec- 
turer's manner  of  putting  things  frequently  brought  down 
the  house  in  rounds  of  applause,  while  his  thorough 
knowledge  of  his  subject  and  earnestness  of  delivery 
commanded  the  most  profound  attention  of  the  audience. 
We  frankly  acknowledge  that  the  lecture  is  not  report- 
able  and  can  only  say  that  those  who  do  not  hear  it 
missed  a  good  lecture.  We  heard  a  large  number  of 
those  who  were  present  express  the  wish  that  Mr.  H. 
would  favor  us  again  at  his  earliest  convenience.  We 
join  in  the  wish  and  bespeak  for  him  a  crowded  house. 


344 


COLONEL    HARPER'S    EDITORIALS    IN    THE 

WARREN  COUNTY  "REPUBLICAN"  AT 

WILLIAMSPORT,  IND.,  1866  AND 

1867,  AND  THE  WARREN 

"LEADER." 

THE  SUSPENSE 

Of  many  persons  at  this  time  is  very  great.  There  is 
general  uneasiness  in  business  circles,  money  is  very  un- 
settled, not  only  in  this  country  but  in  Europe.  The 
largest  and  most  disastrous  failures  of  business  houses 
have  taken  place  within  the  last  two  months  ever  known. 
One  house  in  England  failed  for  two  hundred  and  fifty 
million  dollars,  another  for  a  hundred  million.  Banks 
there  are  run  upon  as  they  never  were  before.  Even  the 
Bank  of  England  had,  by  special  act,  to  expand  its  cir- 
culation about  twenty-five  million  dollars  in  order  to 
keep  from  closing  doors  on  its  depositors. 

In  our  own  country  a  very  unsatisfactory  feeling  is 
getting  up.  Antagonism  of  party  and  faction,  together 
with  the  ambitions  of  designing  men  are  telling  direfully 
upon  the  future  of  the  nation. 

We  have  a  heavy  debt,  nationally,  state  and  municipal, 
of  more  than  four  billion.  This  lays  the  foundation  for 
heavy  taxes,  a  thing  to  be  dreaded  in  unsettled  times. 
Then  these  taxes  have  been  and  are  now  raised  in  a 
way  that  bears  very  unequally  upon  the  people.  The 
policy  has  been  and  there  appears  to  be  a  determination 
on  the  ruling  party  to  stand  by  that  policy  to  raise  the 
tax  by  a  levy  on  the  industry  of  the  country  and  not  upon 
its  wealth.  In  addition  to  this,  the  great  active  moving 
and  most  reliable  part  of  our  monied  wealth,  our  bonded 
currency,  is  exempted  from  taxation.  So  that  something 


346  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

like  four  thousand  million  dollars  worth  of  the  national 
credit  is  free  from  tax. 

This  enables  the  rich  to  speculate  easily  and  pay  but 
little  relatively  to  support  the  government,  while  the  poor, 
comparative,  are  bound  to  give  five  per  cent  of  their  in- 
come to  support  the  government.  This  basis  is  wrong 
and  will  have  to  be  abandoned  or  we  will  cease  to  be  a 
republic.  It  is  the  first  grand  step  toward  the  reigning 
of  a  ruling  class,  an  aristocracy,  whose  object  it  will  be 
eventually  to  centralize  power  and  establish  a  monarchy 
in  fact,  although  they  may  call  it  a  republic.  All  these 
things  but  tend  to  increase  the  suspense  that  now  preys 
upon  the  mind  of  the  people. 


PERIL. 

The  country  is  in  much  peril.  Bad  men  are  at  work. 
Good  ones  must  pull  together — the  people  are  likely  to 
be  deceived,  cheated  out  of  their  liberty.  The  great  con- 
vention just  met  and  adjourned  at  Philadelphia  will  work 
to  distract  and  divide  the  people.  Right  and  wrong  are 
defined  to  a  sharp  edge  in  this  country,  they  are  mar- 
shaling for  a  terrible  struggle. 

The  mighty  scourge  of  war  through  which  we  have 
just  passed  has  not  cooled  down  or  quieted  the  fiery  pas- 
sions of  the  wicked.  Evil  counsel  is  shaping  the  course  of 
the  nation.  Humanity  is  suffering  at  the  head  of  govern- 
ment. Separation,  confusion,  distrust — these  are  waves 
that  run  most  high  in  the  huge  ocean  of  unrest.  From 
all  which  we  warn  our  countrymen  to  look  well  to  their 
own  safety.  It  is  true,  and  must  be  remembered  now, 
that  eternal  vigilance  is  the  price  of  liberty.  Let  this  be 
borne  in  mind  constantly.  The  great  wrong  of  Slavery 
is  not  dead  in  spirit,  but  in  name  only.  Its  bloody  jaws 
reek  with  human  gore  now,  hate — hate  for  the  inoffend- 
ing  race — the  black  man,  burns  in  the  white  man's  bosom 
and  is  finding  vent  in  "riot"  and  "murder !" 

We  urge  upon  all  who  love  God  and  country  to  stand 
by  the  right  now.  The  floods  of  wickedness  that  are 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  347 

sweeping  over  the  land  will  take  no  small  barrier  to  re- 
sist. Politics  are  unsettled,  government  is  misunderstood. 
Policy  is  put  for  right,  demagogueism  for  statesmanship, 
consequently  heavy  woes  hang  dark  and  threatening  on 
the  borders  of  the  land. 

Finance  is  insecure,  trade  unsettled,  failures  every- 
where. The  state  is  tempest-tossed  and  knows  no  rest. 
The  church  is  luke  warm  and  worldly.  Bitterness  fills 
the  heart.  Is  it,  then,  a  time  for  the  great  family  of 
freedom  to  fall  out  by  the  way?  No,  no,  no. 

We  belong  to  that  family  and  we  mean  to  keep  the 
jewel  of  liberty  in  it  forever.  That  gem  is  too  preicous 
to  be  thrown  to  swine,  but  should  be  kept  where  it  would 
receive  the  heart's  garnishment  and  be  a  joy-star  as  lib- 
erty's guardians  kneel  round  the  national  hearthstone, 
that  was  watered  with  the  tears  of  our  patriot  fathers 
and  with  their  blood,  poured  out  in  generating  upon  this 
continent  the  true  family  of  freedom.  Yes,  we  stand  by 
and  with  that  family,  bone  of  its  bone,  and  flesh  of  its 
flesh.  Come  into  it  all  who  love  the  diademic  jewel — we 
welcome  the  white,  the  red,  the  black — God,  Country  and 
Liberty. 

OUR  TEMPERANCE  PLEDGE. 
(Warren  "Republican.") 

We  pledge  ourselves  not  to  drink  as  a  beverage  any 
alcoholic  or  intoxicating  liquors,  forever. 

We  pledge  ourselves  to  use  all  honorable  means  to  get 
all  men  to  take  a  like  pledge. 

We  pledge  ourselves  not  to  vote  for  men  for  any  legis- 
lative offices,  state  or  national,  who  drink  as  a  beverage 
alcoholic  or  intoxicating  liquors. 

We  pledge  ourselves  not  to  aid  directly  or  indirectly 
to  put  into  legislative  offices,  state  or  national,  men  who 
are  in  favor  of  giving  the  sanctions  of  law,  in  any  way, 
to  the  liquor  traffic. 

We  pledge  ourselves  to  use  all  lawful  and  just  means 
to  persuade  the  national  government  to  prohibit,  by  law, 
the  importation,  manufacttire  and  sale  (except  for  medic- 


348  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

inal  and  mechanical  purposes)  all  alcoholic  and  intoxicat- 
ing liquors.  J.  HARPER. 

P.  S. — Our  political  platform  is  of  the  same  style,  viz. : 
Put  voting  and  praying  on  the  same  side.  If  this  be 
"craziness,  make  the  most  of  it" 


WHERE  ARE  WE? 

In  these  times  of  doubt,  distrust  and  peril,  no  one  has 
any  right  to  hold  an  equivocal  position — we  do  not  wish 
to.  And,  as  we  have  for  nearly  three  years  held  the  re- 
sponsible place  of  editor  of  the  Republican  press  of  the 
county,  and  being  about  to  leave  it,  a  word  as  to  where 
we  are,  whether  the  dangers  are  all  passed,  etc.  We  as- 
sumed control  of  the  Warren  Republican  at  a  time  of 
trouble,  such  as  the  nation  had  never  witnessed,  in  the 
midst  of  a  war,  such  as  the  world  never  saw. 

For  more  than  twenty  years  the  storm  had  been  gath- 
ering— men  had  began  to  vote  against  it  as  early  as  1844. 
Ten  years  after  found  us  shook  with  the  Nebraska  bill, 
the  Whig  party  dead  and  the  People's  party  just  com- 
ing to  life.  In  1856,  the  Republican  party  made  its  first 
great  fight  against  slavery.  In  1858  the  times,  full  of 
peril,  brought  to  light  the  great  vindicator  of  liberty,  Mr. 
Lincoln.  His  debates  with  Mr.  Douglas  made  him  the 
first  man  of  the  nation.  In  1860  he  was  made  President 
and  war  begun  before  he  took  his  seat,  burst  like  flame 
along  a  line  two  thousand  miles.  Dark  days,  sad  hearts 
and  new  graves,  these  filled  up  the  years  of  his  first 
term.  But  during  those  four  years — as  memorable  as 
any  in  the  world's  history,  he  had  proclaimed  liberty 
throughout  the  land.  And  upon  that  great  act  he  went 
before  the  people  for  a  second  election  and  they  vindi- 
cated him  gloriously. 

Then  he  entered  upon  his  second  term — all  parties  ac- 
knowledged that  slavery  was  dead — the  Constitution  was 
amended  declaring  it  so.  The  rebellion  was  subdued  by 
the  bayonet,  the  armies  of  the  South  all  whipped — they 
were  conquered — then  they  murdered  the  greatest  and  as 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  349 

good  a  man  as  this  nation  or  the  world  ever  saw,  and 
then  we  began  to  go  back  from  the  negro  and  dark  clouds 
began  to  rise  all  round  the  horizon,  and  today  we  are 
divided — because  we  have  gone  from  the  negro. 

This  paper  has  protested  all  the  time  against  the  course. 
The  negro  was  the  problem  in  the  war,  is  equally  so  in 
the  peace.  Providence  gave  him  freedom,  and  we  now 
try  to  withhold  the  freeman's  best  franchise  from  him — 
voting.  For  advocating  negro  suffrage  I  have  been 
dubbed  "crazy" — be  it  so.  The  instincts  of  Plymouth 
Rock  that  were  born  in  me  and  an  education  at  a  school 
like  Oberlin,  brought  me  to  man's  estate  with  feelings  as 
strong  as  new  life,  against  the  liquor  traffic,  slavery  and 
unequal  political  rights.  I  believe  that  this  day,  this  re- 
public in  its  majority,  is  hugging  to  its  bosom  two  of  the 
most  deadly  wrongs  of  the  world,  and  if  not  got  rid  of 
will  destroy  us  as  a  nation — namely:  the  liquor  traffic  and 
unequal  political  rights.  I  hate  them  both.  The  best  part 
of  my  life  has  been  spent  in  fighting  them,  the  remaining 
portion  is  dedicated  to  the  same  work. 

When  I  see  my  brother  going  down  to  a  death  that 
has  no  star  of  hope  beyond,  my  brain  burns  with  a  curse 
upon  the  rum  sin  of  this  godless  age.  And  when  I  see 
a  half  million  new  graves  in  which  lie  my  countrymen, 
put  there  untimely  by  the  black  monster  slavery,  and 
when  I  see  a  root  of  that  black  monster  left  to  poison  the 
heart  of  the  people,  I  feel  such  indignation  as  to  wear 
upon  the  sinking  frame  like  a  slow  fever,  blood  tingles 
to  finger-end  and  hot  words  that  burn  drop  upon  the 
paper. 

There  are  now  but  two  great  parties.  They  are  con- 
tending for  the  rulership  of  the  nation.  How  do  they 
stand  on  the  two  great  wrongs  named?  "The  National 
Union  Party,"  made  up  of  the  late  Southern  Confederates 
in  its  majority  (of  whites),  the  Democratic  party  of  the 
North,  and  that  portion  of  the  Republican  party  that  go 
with  it.  The  other  party  is  the  Republican.  How  stand 
they?  The  Democratic  party  (I  use  not  its  new  name, 
it  is  too  long) ,  is  in  favor  of  the  liquor  traffic,  its  resolu- 
tions so  declare — it  always  has  been.  On  the  other  wrong, 


350  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

unequal  political  rights,  it  is  equally  committed.  It  says 
this  is  a  white  man's  government,  politically.  Mr.  Mc- 
Donald but  a  short  time  ago  in  our  town  made  this  point 
as  strong  as  it  could  be.  He  said  he  and  his  party  was 
for  withholding  political  power — the  vote  from  the  negro 
forever.  The  country  would  be  ruined  if  the  negro  voted. 
We  would  be  a  mixed  government,  and  would  sink  to  be 
a  Mexico  or  a  South  American  Republic.  And  he  ap- 
pealed to  the  people  to  come  to  the  rescue  that  negro  suf- 
frage would  destroy  our  institutions. 

In  a  friendly  conversation  afterward  with  him,  he  said : 
"I  know,  Harper,  you  do  not  accept  my  position,  but  then 
you  are  wrong."  I  answered  by  saying  that  I  had  been 
reputed  crazy  since  my  first  vote  in  1844,  because  I  had 
been  voting  all  the  time  to  accomplish  the  very  thing — 
negro  voting — that  he  said  "would  destroy  the  nation." 
I  told  him  further  that  if  that  would  destroy  the  nation, 
the  sooner  it  was  destroyed  the  better.  For  never,  it  was 
proved,  that  the  suffrage  on  equal  footing  and  condi- 
tions of  all  men — freemen,  would  destroy  a  Republic, 
why  then  such  a  Republic  ought  to  be  destroyed. 
And  I  say  now  of  the  iniquitous  assumption,  that  a 
pen  nibbed  with  sin,  dipped  in  the  very  essence  of  op- 
pression, could  not  write  a  more  damnable  tyranny 
than  that.  And  a  party  who  publicly  proclaims  such 
a  doctrine,  publicly  proclaims  its  own  tyranny  and  in- 
famy; a  tyranny  I  will  oppose  forever.  And  so  I  wrote 
in  the  Republican  when  this  new  party  was  in  session  at 
Philadelphia,  that  it  was  a  party  forming  by  those  of 
the  nation  who  were  bound  to  turn  from  the  great  pledge 
of  Lincoln  ("we  must  never  go  back  from  the  negro"), 
and  instead  of  carrying  it  out,  deliberately  go  back  from 
the  negro.  A  great  party  was  formed  there,  opposed  to 
humanity.  So  we  wrote  then  and  so  we  say  now. 

What  of  the  Republican  party  on  the  same  two  wrongs  ? 
Simply  this,  a  party  with  right  instincts,  but  lacking  the 
moral  courage  to  carry  out  by  acts  those  instincts.  It 
hates  slavery,  loves  liberty,  is  friendly  to  the  negro,  but 
lacks  courage — has  no  great  moral  Chieftain  to  lead  it. 
It  has  to  bear  the  odium  heaped  upon  it  by  its  opponent, 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  351 

of  being  in  favor  of  negro  suffrage  and  equal  political 
rights,  when  it  is  not  so  now,  but  assumes  to  be  so  in  the 
future.  We  pity  the  great  party  that  has  done  so  much  and 
at  the  most  critical  moment  lacks  the  heroism  to  do  the 
rest.  We  lack  a  Lincoln  now,  the  nation  may  yet  be  put 
into  death  throes  for  want  of  him.  We  may  have  to  bury 
another  two  hundred  thousand,  for  our  sins  to  the  harm- 
less race — but  God  will  raise  up  the  leader  for  the  nation, 
when  he  has  so  fully  chastised  us  that  we  shall  be  glad 
to  receive  him. 

If  the  party  had  followed  out  to  their  results  the  in- 
stincts that  it  had,  today  it  would  have  stood  an  undivided 
rock  of  liberty  and  equality.  But  it  failed  in  some  meas- 
ures. And  I  think  Thad.  Stephens  puts  it  on  the  right 
ground  in  the  following  extracts : 

"But  our  crowning  sin  was  the  omission  to  give  home- 
steads and  the  right  of  suffrage  in  the  rebel  states  to 
the  freedmen  who  have  fought  our  battles.  We  have  left 
them  the  victims  of  the  rebels,  who  every  day  shoot  them 
down  in  cold  blood.  At  Memphis  forty-eight  were  mur- 
dered under  the  direction  of  the  municipal  authorities, 
and  not  a  man  prosecuted.  Behold  the  awful  slaughter 
of  white  men  and  black — of  a  convention  of  highly  re- 
spectable men,  peaceably  assembled  in  convention  at  New 
Orleans,  which  General  Sheridan  pronounces  more  hor- 
rible than  the  massacre  of  Fort  Pillow.  The  President 
and  his  squad — it  does  not  deserve  the  name  of  party — 
contend  that  the  war  made  no  changes  in  the  condition 
of  our  institutions  under  the  Constitution ;  that  the  rights 
and  liabilities  of  all  our  former  citizens — rebel  as  well 
as  loyal — remain  unchanged.  This  exhibits  a  most  de- 
plorable ignorance  or  culpable  treachery." 

On  further  he  says : 

"The  great  issue  to  be  met  at  this  election  is  the  ques- 
tion of  negro  rights.  I  shall  not  deny,  but  admit,  that  a 
fundamental  principle  of  the  Republican  creed  is  that  ev- 
ery being  possessing  an  immortal  soul  is  equal  before 
the  law.  They  are  not  and  cannot  be  equal  in  strength, 
height,  beauty,  intellectual  and  moral  culture,  or  social 
acquirements ;  these  are  accidents  which  must  govern 


352  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

their  condition  according  to  circumstances.  But  in  this 
Republic  the  same  laws  must  and  shall  apply  to  every 
mortal,  American,  Irishman,  African,  German  or  Turk. 
It  is  written  by  the  finger  of  the  Almighty  lawgiver:  'Ye 
shall  have  one  manner  of  laws,  as  well  for  the  stranger 
as  for  one  of  your  own  country,  for  I  am  the  Lord  your 
God.'  I  need  not  be  admonished  that  the  support  of  this 
doctrine  on  the  eve  of  an  election  is  dangerous,  especially 
in  counties  bordering  on  the  slave  states.  A  deep-seated 
prejudice  against  races  has  disfigured  the  human  mind 
for  ages.  For  two  centuries  it  has  oppressed  the  black 
man  and  held  him  in  bondage  while  slavery  had  ceased 
to  exist.  Now  it  deprives  him  of  every  right  in  the 
Southern  states.  We  have  joined  in  inflicting  those 
wrongs.  How  has  the  Father  of  this  blameless  race 
awarded  this  prejudice,  treated  this  despotism?  Let  the 
scarfs  upon  your  garments  and  the  gory  graves  that  dot 
a  thousand  bloody  battle  fields  give  the  sad  answer.  This 
doctrine  may  be  unpopular  with  besotted  ignorance.  But 
popular  or  unpopular,  I  shall  stand  by  it  until  I  am  re- 
lieved of  the  unprofitable  labors  of  earth.  Being  the 
foundation  of  our  Republic,  I  have  full  faith  in  its  ulti- 
mate triumph.  I  may  not  live  to  see  it.  I  may  not  be 
worthy  of  such  happiness.  If  it  is  to  be  finally  defeated, 
and  the  hopes  of  man  thus  extinguished,  I  pray  God 
that,  when  it  happens,  I  may  be  insensible  to  human  mis- 
ery; that  my  senses  may  be  locked  in  'cold  obstruction 
and  in  death.'  " 

It  is  not  too  late  to  do  right.  And  now,  good  men, 
preach,  pray  and  vote  for  the  great  principle — down  with 
the  liquor  traffic,  up  with  equal  political  rights.  Ten 
thousand  multiplied  hearts  are  waiting  and  praying  for 
the  true  day  of  jubilee.  And  it  will  come  to  the  nation. 
He  will  rise  up  from  the  rich  ashes  of  the  martyred 
President  a  second  hero,  one  that  can  take  the  fallen 
cloak  of  fire-wrapped  Elijah  and  become  an  Elisha  of 
the  prophets,  and  bear  the  "golden  flag"  on  to  glorious 
victory. 

With  the  humble  powers  God  has  given  me  I  shall 
continue  to  work  for  these  two  principles,  as  I  have 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  353 

ever  done.  I  shall  in  my  humble  sphere,  preach  and  pray 
and  vote,  for  God  and  humanity,  country  and  liberty, 
truth  and  religion,  waiting  and  watching  for  the  glad 
day  of  deliverance — eye  catches  that  deliverance  in  the 
close  future. 

I  am  not  alone,  big  souls  fill  the  land,  hope's  anchor 
reaches  to  the  promised  land  and  faith's  vision  sees 
the  field  won,  the  victory  achieved. 

*  *  *  I  saw  one  of  these  live  souls  not  many  days 
ago.  I  stood  upon  the  platform,  with  the  war-worn 
hero  as  he  looked  out  upon  the  vast  thousands  that  had 
come  to  hear  his  trumpet  words  for  freedom,  man  and 
God.  As  the  multitudes  poured  in,  music  rang  out, 
banners,  "bullet-shot,"  "shell-torn,"  cracked  in  the 
breeze.  Motto  after  motto  went  by  the  stand,  the  old 
flag — the  "gridiron,"  went  proudly  on  as  a  thing  of  life. 
The  battle  scene  for  flag  and  country  was  again  before 
him,  his  eagle  eye  lit  up  and,  like  "Jove's  war  horse  for 
the  fray,"  his  heart  and  lip  rang  out:  "O,  that  Abraham 
Lincoln  was  alive."  For  if  he  was,  today  would  there  be 
one  flag  here  higher  than  all  the  rest.  And  upon  it  would 
be  inscribed  the  glorious  words,  "Freedom  to  all  man- 
kind, and  equal  political  rights  to  men."  And  the  war 
chief  of  the  Sangamon  would  snatch  that  flag  and  bear 
it  on,  on,  on.  And  as  he  went,  the  trumpet  shout  would 
echo  nation  wide,  "give  the  ballot  to  the  negro,  so 
that  he  may  help  to  keep  the  jewel  of  liberty  in  the  family 
of  freedom."  And  his  "boney,  honest  face,"  proud  and 
"high  above  a  Henry  of  Navarre,"  would  generate  respon- 
sive gladness  in  the  hearts  of  millions.  And  the  steady 
tramp  of  liberty's  host,  would  be  the  victors'  march  to 
freedom's  home — their  onset  would  sweep  from  the  land 
the  haters  of  liberty,  and  the  REPUBLIC  WOULD  BE  SAVED." 
God  send  the  coming  man ! 
"God  give  us  Men !  A  time  like  this  demands 
Strong  minds,  great  hearts,  true  faith,  and  ready  hands. 
Men  whom  the  lusts  of  office  do  not  kill ; 
Men  whom  the  spoils  of  office  cannot  buy ; 
Men  who  possess  opinions  and  a  will ; 
Men  who  have  honor — men  who  will  not  lie; 


354  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

Men  who  can  stand  before  a  demagogue, 
And  face  his  treacherous  flatteries  without  winking; 
Tall  men,  sun-crowned,  who  live  above  the  fog, 
In  public  duty,  and  in  private  thinking: 
For  while  the  rabble,  with  their  thumb- worn  creeds, 
Their  large  professions  and  their  little  deeds, 
Mingle  in  selfish  strife.     Lo !    Goodness  weeps, 
Wrong  rules  the  land,  and  waiting  JUSTICE  sleeps." 
Now,  readers  of  the  Republican,  farewell. 


THE  TAXES. 

The  taxes  are  high,  and  many  of  the  interests  of  the 
country  are  suffering  because  it  is  so.  That  the  burden 
is  heavy  in  this  direction,  no  one  will  pretend  to  deny. 
On  some  classes  this  burden  bears  more  heavily  that  it 
does  on  others.  But  taxes  by  the  government  of  the 
United  States,  excise  and  income,  is  a  new  thing — a  thing 
not  known  till  within  the  last  five  years.  Duties  on  im- 
ports, customs,  sale  of  public  lands,  have,  from  the  begin- 
ning of  the  government  been  sufficient  to  support  the 
government,  till  the  rebellion  burst  upon  us.  Then  the 
sad  time  of  our  national  life  caused  nearly  every  house- 
hold in  the  great  North  to  mourn,  and  many  and  many 
days  the  government  sustained  itself  at  an  expense  of 
two  million  dollars,  and  there  was  a  few  days  when  we 
were  making  our  most  heroic  efforts  that  we  expended 
three  million  dollars  per  day. 

In  those  days  of  trouble,  Congress  resorted  to  direct 
taxation,  a  thing  not  before  known  in  the  history  of  the 
country.  Did  the  people,  in  the  great  mass,  of  the  free 
North  object?  No.  The  people  of  the  loyal  states  were 
determined  to  save  the  Union  of  the  states,  and  they 
would  furnish  the  money  so  that  the  hand  of  the  gov- 
ernment should  be  upheld,  the  men  in  the  field  paid,  and 
the  national  credit  maintained.  And  so  excise  and  in- 
come taxes  became  fixed  facts,  part  of  the  working  of 
the  government,  in  its  mighty  struggle  of  putting  down 
the  rebellion.  And  the  people  all  the  while  stood  by  the 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  355 

acts  of  their  agents,  lived  up  to  every  law  of  Congress, 
paid  every  levy  made  upon  them ;  willingly,  because  they 
had  sworn  in  the  depths  of  the  true  heart  of  the  free 
North,  to  save  the  Nation. 

We  moved  on  under  these  burdens  till  at  last  the  war 
concluded,  the  rebels  laid  down  their  arms.  More  than 
four  long,  bloody  years  had  rolled  by  and  their  dire  acts 
had  become  history,  a  debt  of  near  three  thousand  mil- 
lions of  dollars,  fixed  upon  the  country. 

But  the  facts  that  we  wish  in  brief  to  speak  of  at  this 
time,  are:  Shall  we  ever  be  relieved  of  these  onerous 
burdens;  shall  one  class  always  be  burdened  more  heav- 
ily than  another?  If  this  excise  and  income  tax  is  to  be 
the  perpetual  system  of  raising  the  revenues  of  the  gov- 
ernment, then  shall  they  continue  as  they  have  hereto- 
fore, to  rest  more  heavily  on  one  class  than  on  another? 
We  say  not.  Let  the  burdens  of  the  support  of  the  gov- 
ernment be  borne  by  all  equally,  as  to  taxation.  Let 
every  man's  property  be  equally  taxed. 

Heretofore  the  taxes  have  been  mainly  raised  by  taxing 
the  industry  of  the  country  and  not  the  wealth.  And  this 
unequal  mode  of  taxation  makes  the  consumer  the  one 
most  heavily  taxed.  Should  this  course  be  continued? 
We  think  not.  Let  the  wealth  of  the  country  be  taxed. 
The  wealthy  men  have  more  at  stake  in  perpetuating  the 
government  than  have  the  poor. 

Now  then,  how  can  this  thing  be  accomplished — how 
can  the  burdens  of  the  poor  man  be  lightened  and  those 
of  the  rich  increased?  We  answer,  let  less  money  be 
raised  from  incomes  and  more  from  wealth. 

Another  way;  let  a  thousand  or  twelve  hundred  dol- 
lars be  exempt  from  taxation  of  a  man's  income.  This 
will  relieve  the  great  middling  class,  the  working  class, 
from  an  income  tax.  This  course  would  relieve  the  man, 
who,  by  his  day  labor,  supported  his  family,  from  paying 
on  that  money  that  had  been  expended  in  the  support  of 
those  dependent  upon  him  for  their  bread.  As  it  now  is, 
with  only  six  hundred  dollars  exempted,  a  heavy  tax  is 
required  at  the  hands  of  those  who  by  daily  labor  support 
their  families.  This  tax  should  not  be  so  continued. 


THE  SPIRIT  OF  SPECULATION. 

The  love  of  wealth  has  been  the  sin  of  the  ages.  This 
rank  passion  of  the  soul  has  drowned  in  perdition  untold 
multitudes  of  the  race.  It  is  said  in  the  Book  that  the 
"love  of  money  is  the  root  of  all  evil."  History  abund- 
antly attests  the  truth  of  the  inspired  declaration.  The 
saying,  "love  of  money"  includes  in  it  the  undue  desire 
for  wealth,  avarice,  display,  aggrandizement.  As  a  re- 
sult, which  legitimately  flows  from  it,  is  haughtiness,  vain 
assumptions,  over-estimate  of  one's  self,  pride  and  fash- 
ion. 

Every  one  of  the  things  named  enters  largely  into  the 
frame-work  of  modern  society  and  forms  the  largest  por- 
tion of  the  warp  and  woof  of  our  mis-called  civilization. 

Half  of  the  crimes  of  the  world  today  grow  out  of 
and  are  necessary  sequences  of  our  spirit  of  trade.  The 
mighty  operations  of  commerce,  whose  fleecy  sail  whitens 
every  water  of  the  globe,  is  but  the  manifestation  of  the 
spirit  of  speculation.  The  memories  of  men  of  forty-five 
years  of  age  go  back  to  the  day  when  a  millionaire  was 
a  rare  thing.  Trade  in  those  unsophisticated  times  of 
"log  cabins,"  went  upon  the  basis,  as  set  forth  in  the  dis- 
cipline, "use  not  many  words  in  bargaining."  Lying 
then  was  not  a  prominent  element  in  traffic — now  it  is. 
Deception  is  the  first  born  of  the  spirit  of  speculation ; 
and  it  is  stamped  upon  the  brazen  brow  of  commerce,  all 
over  the  world.  Men  may  pronounce  fine  panegyrics 
upon  this  "Mystic  Babylon,"  but  that  cannot  alter  its  true 
character.  Buying  and  selling  by  secret  marks,  by  false 
statement,  inuendo  and  by  direct  lying,  is  damning  the 
world.  Ships,  telegraphs  and  locomotives  make  com- 
merce the  mistress  of  the  globe.  Her  votaries  are  millions 
doubly  told.  This  Harlot,  decked  in  purple  and  full  of 
lasciviousness,  spreads  her  meshic-net  over  the  face  of 

356 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  357 

the  whole  earth  and  gathers  to  her  treasure  from  every 
source,  where  there  is  a  profit.  Ivory  from  the  jungles, 
gold-dust  from  mountain  gorge  and  hot  plain,  fish  from 
the  ocean,  bread  from  the  world-field,  labor  from  the  toil- 
ing masses,  and  coins  her  shining  pieces,  as  the  counted- 
out  price  for  the  bodies  and  souls  of  men.  Lead  on  by 
mammon-love,  and  fanned  to  a  burning  zeal,  by  the  spirit 
of  speculation,  the  many-headed  dragon  of  lust,  unbelief 
and  sin,  is  unable  to  say:  "I  set  a  queen  and  am  no 
widow  and  shall  see  no  sorrow."  This  spirit  of  specula- 
tion is  filling  hell  with  the  lost  and  robbing  heaven  of 
myriads  of  jewels.  It  stirs  up  war,  causes  famine  to  the 
poor  and  murders  the  helpless.  Its  soul  is  lust,  its  occu- 
pation crime.  It  impiously  assumes  the  garb  of  light  in 
which  to  do  the  works  of  darkness.  It  would  rob  the 
New  Jerusalem  of  its  golden  pavements  or  hell  of  its 
"terrible  trappings"  if  thereby  it  could  make  cent  per 
centum. 

STREET  PREACHING. 

A  word  at  this  time  on  this  important  subject  may  not 
be  amiss.  The  question  has  been  brought  before  the  peo- 
ple of  this  community,  by  the  church,  and  arrangements 
made  to  hold  a  series  of  meetings  on  Sunday  in  the  Pub- 
lic Square,  the  ministers  in  charge  at  the  several  churches 
preaching  in  turn.  A  notice  of  the  first  one  of  these  meet- 
ings will  be  seen  in  another  part  of  this  paper. 

We  propose  to  speak  of  street,  or  outdoor  preaching, 
as  a  necessity  of  the  times.  The  gospel  is  the  light  of  the 
world ;  that  light  is  mainly  carried  to  the  world  by  means 
of  preaching.  The  world  needs  that  light,  is  dying  for 
want  of  it.  It  must  be  carried  to  the  people.  Men  will 
not  come  to  the  light  because  their  deeds  are  evil.  But 
there  are  objections.  Then  let  us  see  what  good  can  be 
done  in  this  way. 

We  know  right  well  that  many  good  people  are  op- 
posed to  it.  Many  Christian  men  and  women  think  that 
it  is  derogatory  to  the  gospel  and  degrading  to  the  min- 
istry, to  go  peddling  and  hawking  the  gospel  mission  at 


358  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

the  street  corners.  We  know  that  modern  Phariseeism, 
that  sits  in  cushioned  pews  and  thanks  God  that  they  are 
not  as  other  men,  are  opposed  to  a  gospel  that  turns  Mag- 
dalenes  into  jewels  of  salvation  and  carries  a  Lazarus 
from  the  rich  man's  gate  to  Abraham's  bosom.  But  what 
of  that,  Christ  preached  to  the  woman  at  the  well.  Chris- 
tianity in  these  days  is  in  its  holiday  dress;  turns  up  its 
nose  at  the  idea  of  "Gallileean  fishermen"  or  the  "Carpen- 
ter's Son."  Shame  on  our  zeal.  "Keno  dens  thicken  in 
every  city ;  the  streets  on  the  Sabbath  day  are  made  hide- 
ous with  sin's  foul  doings.  And  shall  the  gospel  stay  away 
from  these  haunts  of  iniquity?  No,  no,  no.  Wherever 
sin  seeks  a  hiding  place  and  darkness  reigns,  there  let 
the  gospel  be  preached.  The  great  commission  is  "go" 
and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature.  Wait  not  for 
their  coming  to  the  place  appointed,  but  go  to  the  fester- 
ing abodes  of  crime ;  go  to  the  dark  alleys,  to  the  thronged 
street,  the  busy  mart;  go  to  the  dark  alleys,  the  squalid 
garret — go  everywhere  and  preach  the  gospel.  And  stand 
not  upon  the  order  of  your  going  but  go  at  once.  Go 
proclaim  this  "power  and  wisdom"  of  God  to  all.  Let 
there  be  preaching  in  all  the  churches,  by  minister  and 
layman;  let  there  be  preaching  in  the  streets,  in  the 
groves,  on  mountain  top  and  in  valley,  on  the  plat- 
form of  the  car,  in  shop,  store,  garret  and  cellar,  office 
and  counting  room — in  every  place  where  sin  has  entered 
and  ruin  followed,  let  the  gospel  be  carried  and  salvation 
proclaimed.  Let  the  church  do  this,  by  minister  and  lay- 
man— let  her  do  it  now.  Lost  souls,  millions  in  num- 
ber, cry  for  the  waters  of  life;  degradation  and  misery 
hungers  for  the  bread  of  life.  Sinners  away  from  a  fath- 
er's house,  have  wasted  their  substance  in  riot,  are  dying 
for  want.  The  feast  is  ready  in  the  father's  house,  prodi- 
gals return.  None  are  left  out,  all  are  invited.  Traitors, 
murderers,  robbers,  liars,  thieves,  the  abandoned,  the  lost, 
to  all  these  the  meek  Gallilean  has  said :  "Come  unto  me 
and  I  will  give  you  rest."  Carry  the  glad  message  to 
them,  carry  it  as  coming  from  the  Saviour.  They  will 
hear  it,  carry  it  now. 

Let  us  look  at  another  feature.     Is  it  new?    Are  we 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  359 

urging  something  that  is  new  ?  something  up  to  these  new 
times?  Nay,  verily.  We  are  for  seeking  out  the  old 
paths  and  walking  in  them.  "Give  us  the  way  our  fathers 
trod,"  the  way  apostles  and  prophets  walked.  Ah,  yes, 
the  old  ways  that  reach  back  to  Eden,  to  the  happy  hour 
when  heaven  and  earth  pillowed  on  the  same  bosom  and 
God  talked  to  man  in  the  cool  of  the  day,  in  the  shades 
of  the  garden.  What  glory  that. 

Time  would  fail  us  to  go  into  detail.  The  church  in 
its  purest  day  preached  the  gospel  to  the  people  in  mass, 
outside  of  house,  booth  or  tent. 

The  sermon  on  the  Mount  by  the  Redeemer,  Paul  at 
Murs-Hill,  and  in  the  Market-Space  of  every  city  of  the 
Roman  world,  the  almost  miraculous  success  which  has 
attended  the  church  in  modern  times,  since  the  Reforma- 
tion, in  its  oudoor  efforts,  are  all  ample  proof  of  its  divine 
origin. 

THE  STRIFE. 

The  strife  in  Cincinnati  between  the  two  branches  of 
the  Republican  party  is  heavy.  Smith,  of  the  Gazette, 
got  the  nomination  for  Congress  in  the  2nd  District  over 
General  Gary,  and  the  latter  says  that  the  nomination 
was  procured  by  fraud,  bribery,  purchase  of  votes,  etc. 
The  Trades  Union  nominated  Gary  for  the  same  office, 
and  if  there  is  no  Democratic  candidate  in  the  field,  he 
will  run  through  and  hopes  to  beat  the  regular  nominee. 
The  "straights,"  those  who  go  for  Smith,  say  that  Gary 
has  gone  over  to  the  Democracy.  This  Gary  denies,  and 
thus  the  muddle  gets  more  and  more  muddled.  We  who 
are  outside  the  field  where  the  fight  is  going  on  can  see 
one  thing  plain  enough,  namely,  that  there  is  a  fuss  in 
Cincinnati  in  the  Republican  ranks,  and  that  it  is  likely 
to  work  a  defeat  of  that  party  if  the  breach  is  not  healed. 
Has  it  indeed  come  to  that  pass  in  the  Republican  party, 
that  it  is  so  overdone  with  corrupt  leaders  as  to  drive 
from  it  the  true  element  of  the  party? 

In  California  fraud  was  charged  in  the  nominating  con- 
vention. That  part  of  the  party  who  forced  the  nomina- 


360  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

tion  through,  called  all  who  talked  of  fraud  "sore  heads," 
and  other  classic  names.  And  thus  matters  moved  on  till 
the  election  day  came,  and  then  the  Democrats  elected  the 
governor.  These  are  bad  precedents  to  be  settling  on  the 
eve  of  so  great  and  important  an  election  as  that  of  1868. 
We  have  but  a  few  things  more  to  say  about  this  matter, 
and  we  say  them  now  for  the  benefit  of  the  party  in 
power. 

It  claims  to  be  the  representation  of  moral  ideas ;  it 
asks  all  good  men,  Christian  men  to  vote  for  it,  because 
it  is  for  the  right,  and  that  its  leaders  are  the  true  light 
of  political  progress.  These  are  high  pretensions  and 
must  be  made  good  by  acts.  Good  men  must  be  put  for- 
ward for  standard  bearers.  The  people  are  tired  of  the 
abuses  of  bad  men ;  they  are  jealous  of  their  liberties.  The 
demagogue,  the  rounder,  the  political  trickster,  the  fel- 
low or  set  of  fellows  who  forced  themselves  into  the  party 
to  get  office  for  their  own  advantage,  will  be  defeated. 
The  times  are  too  troublesome  and  perilous  to  trust  our 
institutions  to  the  care  and  keeping  of  political  hacks. 

It  is  a  fact  becoming  too  patent  to  be  covered  up,  that 
men  who  staid  at  home  during  the  war  and  made  for- 
tunes out  of  the  very  blood  and  bones  of  the  nation's 
heroes,  are  now  holding  the  offices — as  they  did  during 
the  war — and  to  shake  them  loose  from  these  fat  places, 
where  like  leeches  they  have  fastened  themselves,  is 
nearly  as  hard  as  it  would  be  for  one  to  get  rid  of  his 
own  shadow.  The  soldiers  who  were  in  the  front  for  near 
four  years,  beating  back  the  enemies  of  the  Republic, 
are  now  thrust  on  to  the  back  seats  and  treated  as  dogs. 
The  one-legged,  one-armed  boy,  who  periled  his  life 
to  save  the  country  of  our  fathers,  stands  no  chance  in 
the  political  ring  with  a  wormy  politician,  who  stayed  at 
home  and  was  a  "home  guard,"  ready  to  arrest  desert- 
ers, as  they  termed  every  heart-sick  soldier,  who  for  a 
day  was  found  lingering  round  his  home,  weeping  over 
the  destitution  of  the  families  left  behind. 

Regular  thoroughbred  politicians  are  to  the  country 
now  what  the  plague  was  in  Egypt — death  to  the  first 
born.  They  gather  into  squads,  parcel  out  the  offices, 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  361 

and  then  go  to  work  to  set  the  political  triggers  to  give 
these  offices  into  the  hands  of  the  initiated  few.  A  more 
unscrupulous  set  of  harpies,  remorseless  vampires,  never 
fattened  upon  the  public  confidence  than  is  now  imperil- 
ing the  liberty  of  the  people.  All  the  way  from  the  na- 
tion's head  down  to  the  county  organizations,  are  to  be 
found  these  traders  in  political  booty,  which  they  have 
robbed  from  the  people.  The  county  offices  are  all  par- 
celed out,  the  state  offices  snugly  appropriated,  and  the 
national  office  patronage  sold  to  the  highest  bidder.  "Pol- 
icy," "keep  together,"  "bolter,"  and  many  other  slang 
phrases  known  to  the  political  profession  are  constantly 
rung  out  as  words  of  terror  to  the  dear  people,  whom 
these  fellows  have  taken  the  contract  to  deliver  from  all 
their  troubles.  Now  look  at  these  county  political  Samp- 
sons, and  who  are  they  ?  Fellows  who  have  constitutions 
equal  in  toughness  to  that  of  a  mule,  but  who,  during  all 
the  dark  days  of  the  war  were  unable  to  go  to  the  front  be- 
cause of  chronic  complaints,  whose  malignancv  was  of 
that  sort  that  could  not  be  reached  by  the  two  powerful 
remedies — Canada  and  the  draft,  videlicit.  If  they  had 
not  money  enough  to  buy  themselves  out  of  the  draft — 
by  patriotic  efforts,  to  get  others  to  go,  why,  then,  they 
"goed"  to  Canada.  Or,  if  they  stayed  at  home,  they  were 
mighty  zealous  in  getting  others  to  go,  to  avoid  the  draft. 
And  oh,  what  fellows  to  talk  were  they,  of  what  they 
would,  that  is  what  "our  army"  would  do,  "our  country," 
and  words  to  that  effect.  In  a  word,  they  stayed  at  home 
and  took  care  of  the  seven  great  New  Testament  prin- 
ciples, that  they  loved,  do  now  love  so  well,  namely,  the 
five  loaves  and  two  fishes.  In  words  more  modern,  they 
stayed  at  home  and  run  the  offices  and  pocketed  the  per- 
quisities  thereof,  and  for  that  great  self  denial  they  say, 
now  let  us  pocket  the  spoils  yet  for  lo  these  many  years, 
for  we  be  patriots  who  stayed  at  home,  while  you  boys 
in  blue  were  "bummers,"  "sporting  the  musket"  and  liv- 
ing on  "delectable  hardtack."  Stand  aside,  soldiers,  for 
we  be  more  holy  than  thou. 


SUNDAY  LAWS. 

The  great  struggle  as  to  whether  the  Sabbath  shall  be 
kept  as  a  sacred  day,  is  fast  approaching,  and  when  it 
fully  arrives,  it  will  be  one  of  the  most  bitter,  fierce,  con- 
tests that  this  country  has  ever  had  to  encounter.  There 
is  a  growing  disposition  to  make  the  Sabbath  a  kind  of 
gala  day,  in  which  festivity,  drinking  and  theatrical  per- 
formances shall  be  the  marked  features.  Our  large  cit- 
ies, and  indeed  the  smaller  ones,  the  towns  and  villages, 
are  now  seats  of  vice,  so  patent  that  good  men  fear  for  our 
institutions. 

And  let  it  be  remembered  that  a  nation  which  pretends 
to  be  Christian,  even  nominally,  cannot,  dare  not,  disre- 
gard the  Sabbath.  If  it  does  it  will  certainly  come  to 
ruin.  The  French  people  at  the  close  of  the  last  century 
tried  the  infidel  idea  of  worship.  The  Sunday  was  abol- 
ished, a  ninth  day  ceremony  established  in  its  stead,  a  vile 
woman  set  up  as  the  Goddess  of  Reason.  And  in  blot- 
ting out  the  day  that  commemorated  the  resurrection  of 
the  world's  Redeemer  they  tried  to  blot  out  the  resurrec- 
tion itself,  by  declaring  death  an  "eternal  sleep."  The 
grave  was  made  a  charnel  house,  with  no  hope  beyond, 
and  the  very  tombstones  were  made  to  declare  Revelation 
a  lie  and  God  a  falsifier.  To  such  an  extreme  did  the 
madness  of  mean  men,  in  their  unholy,  senseless  attack 
upon  the  day  that  God  Almighty  had  hallowed.  Like 
fools  they  rushed  against  the  sharp  bosses  of  Jehovah's 
buckler  and  they  went  down  like  grass  before  the  keen 
edge  of  the  devouring  scythe. 

The  "Reign  of  Terror,"  fierce  as  a  "thing  of  hell," 
leaped  full  grown  into  existence  and  death  followed  in  its 
train.  The  Sabbath  cannot  be  tampered  with  so  as  to 
be  set  aside  by  law.  The  Nation  that  attempts  it  is  but 
paving  the  way  to  its  own  ruin.  The  Nations  to  which 

363 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  363 

the  Bible  has  come  must  maintain  the  Sabbath.  It  is 
a  question  that  cannot  be  reasoned  about.  Revelation 
knows  all  reason,  but  reason  cannot  know  all  revelation. 
The  great  mistake  of  the  French  nation  was  that  they 
thought  that  reason  could  solve  all  things ;  their  idea  of 
God  was  reason.  They  said  there  was  no  reason  why  one 
day  should  be  held  more  sacred  than  another,  except  as 
man  saw  fit  so  to  do — simply  because  it  was  commanded 
was  no  reason.  Hence,  in  defiance  of  revelation,  they  set 
up  a  ninth  day  rest-day,  dedicated  it  to  reason,  and  their 
ruin  followed  and  by  a  vengeance  that  never  had  a  par- 
allel, they  were  driven  back  to  the  old  ways. 

And  now  in  this  country  the  same  species  of  arguments 
are  being  made.  That  there  is  no  reason  in  having  a  law 
to  shield  the  Sabbath.  Well,  it  is  the  old  farce  sought  to 
be  played  over  again.  The  end  will  be  the  same.  We 
write  not  thus  because  we  have  any  fear  of  the  Sabbath 
being  blotted  out — that  can  never  be  done.  But  we  do 
so  to  warn  our  countrymen  to  beware  of  the  great  sin; 
refrain  from  the  attempt  of  even  trying  to  do  so  foolish 
a  thing.  For  the  attempt  will  bring  judgment.  Govern- 
ments can  only  accomplish  the  purposes  for  which  they 
were,  and  are,  raised  up.  It  is  not  within  their  province 
to  abolish  the  Sabbath,  but  to  maintain  it  by  giving  it  a 
place  upon  the  statute  books.  Rationalism  is  on  the  in- 
crease everywhere,  and  it  behooves  Christian  men,  good 
men,  to  stand  by  the  great  pillars  that  have  stood  firm, 
as  the  nations  have  went  down.  The  Sabbath  has  come 
to  us  from  the  very  gates  of  Paradise.  The  flaming 
sword  that  guarded  the  way  of  life  and  drove  man  from 
his  home  of  peace,  did  not  strike  down  the  day  of  rest. 
The  flood  left  it  a  living  thing  among  the  dead  of  almost 
the  entire  creation ;  the  "Ten  Commandments"  renewed 
it ;  the  travail  of  soul,  the  myriads  of  graves  of  the  race 
have  not  entombed  it;  atheism  has  not  scathed  it;  nor 
have  all  the  powers  of  sin  been  able  to  tarnish  it.  It 
stands  yet  the  memorial  day  of  creation,  the  day-star  of 
the  resurrection  and  the  type  of  that  rest  that  remaineth 
in  the  word  to  come.  Let  us  as  a  nation,  then,  guard  well 
the  great  day  of  rest. 


EDITORIAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 

FORT  KEARNEY,  June  6,  1872. 

I  am  here  for  a  little  rest  after  a  long  ride  and  as  I 
write  I  look  out  upon  the  old  trail,  where  in  the  days 
of  other  years  the  overland  train  wound  its  tortuous 
course  up  the  gentle  flowing  Platte.  Old  memories  come 
upon  me  and  the  mind  goes  back  to  the  California  rush 
for  gold.  The  country  is  historic.  This  old  fort  is  a 
place  famous  in  the  annals  of  our  country.  And  as  the 
painted  Indian  goes  softly  by,  with  his  twinkling  eye 
and  glancing  look,  one  is  brought  face  to  face  with  the 
scenes  so  fearfully  depicted  in  the  bloody  legends  of  the 
west.  Imagination  will  go  back  to  those  days. 

There  are  plenty  of  the  Pawnee  Indians  here  and  some 
of  the  Sioux.  They  are  dying  out  in  the  light  of  this 
civilization  and  in  a  few  years  the  last,  not  only  of  the 
Mohicans,  but  the  last  of  the  red  man  will  be  counted 
among  the  things  that  once  were.  This  Platte  Valley 
is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  in  the  United  States  and  is 
fast  becoming  the  seat  of  one  of  the  most  flourishing 
portions  of  this  country.  The  beauty  is  indeed  beyond 
anything  yet  ever  said  of  it.  To  stand  and  look  at  the 
hills,  green  as  the  finest  heather  slopes  of  Scotland,  is  a 
treat  not  to  be  forgotten.  As  you  glance  along  the  banks 
of  the  broad  silvery  stream  and  take  in  the  grand  pan- 
orama on  both  sides,  you  cannot  but  think  of  the  beau- 
tiful pictures  so  rapturously  described  by  Cooper,  Irwin 
and  Scott  in  their  most  fascinating  stories.  What  a  land 
of  romance  is  this.  But  a  few  years  ago  the  buffalo 
roamed  in  wild  majesty  here,  with  none,  save  he  of  the 
bow  and  arrow,  to  molest  or  make  him  afraid.  Now  the 
dream  of  the  ages  has  dawned  and  the  hunting  grounds 
of  the  braves  are  being  swallowed  up  by  the  busy  tramp 

364 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  365 

of  trade,  and  the  grass  so  sweet  to  the  luscious  jaws  of  the 
bison,  is  giving  way  to  the  tame  growth  and  the  discord- 
ant jostle  of  the  rushing  multitude.  What  an  age !  The 
screech  of  the  locomotive  scares  the  coyote  and  the  brindle 
wolf  goes  to  his  lair  and  the  prairie  dog  to  his  hole. 

But  why  multiply  words  ?  The  star  of  empire  is  going 
west  and  its  seat  is  about  where  I  sit  and  write.  The 
Union  Pacific  Railroad  is  one  of  the  greatest  enterprises 
of  the  age,  and  its  effect  on  the  age  and  the  commerce  of 
the  world  is  not  yet  fully  imagined. 

Now,  I  will  but  add  that  just  at  this  place  is  now  cen- 
tering some  of  the  grandest  schemes  of  moneyed  men 
ever  yet  set  on  foot  in  this  country.  J,  H. 


INFORMATION  FOR  THE  MILLION. 

Colonel  Harper's  testimony  to  the  value  and  importance 
of  the  Wabash  Railway  Line: 

SYRACUSE,  N.  Y.,  March  13,  1881. 

COL.  JESSE  HARPER  :  My  Dear  Friend — We  write  you 
to  make  inquiry  and  get  information.  Your  extensive  ac- 
quaintance in  every  part  of  the  country  and  your  travels 
all  over  it  assures  us  that  the  information  we  seek  you  can 
furnish.  And  knowing  your  willingness  to  serve  friends 
we  draw  upon  you  for  a  big  budget. 

Myself  and  ten  or  twelve  others  are  now  getting  ready 
to  make  an  extensive  trip  west  and  southwest.  We  go  to 
"spy  out  the  land,"  so  to  speak.  And  we  are  not  alone 
on  this  "western  fever,"  there  will  be  an  immense  emigra- 
tion this  season  to  the  west. 

The  portions  to  be  examined  by  us  for  ourselves  and 
on  behalf  of  those  whom  we  represent  you  have  full 
knowledge  of — Nebraska,  Kansas,  Colorado  and  Western 
Texas.  We  may  go  to  the  Pacific  coast. 

We  propose  to  see  this  section  at  early  spring,  so  as 
to  judge  of  it  at  that  season. 

Will  you  furnish  us  all  the  facts,  data,  titles,  etc.  ?  Sencl 


366  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

us  all  you  have  written  on  the  subject,  if  in  form  that 
you  can  do  so;  your  letters  on  the  valleys  of  the  Platte 
and  the  Arkansas  rivers ;  your  notes  on  the  valleys  and 
mountains  of  Colorado;  your  description  of  Western 
Texas,  etc.  Anything  that  will  be  useful  to  persons  look- 
ing for  a  place  to  settle  we  will  be  glad  of. 

This  will  inform  you  of  the  objects  and  aims  suffic- 
iently to  enable  you  to  furnish  us  the  store  of  informa- 
tion in  your  possession  and  which  will  be  invaluable  to  us. 

What  is  our  best  route  ? 

Having  been  over  this  whole  section  of  country  you 
can  put  us  on  the  "right  road,"  as  the  old  saying  runs. 
You  are  so  familiar  with  railroad  routes  and  with  travel 
as  to  be  of  vast  benefit  to  us  in  the  shape  of  instruction, 
suggestions,  etc.,  etc. 

We  want  information  as  to  the  best  route.  So  that 
in  moving  out  with  our  families  and  stuff  we  shall  have 
knowledge  of  the  way,  having  passed  over  it.  *  *  * 
Hoping  to  hear  from  you,  my  old  time  friend,  I  am,  yours 
as  ever,  ABEL  JONES. 

Friends  send  best  wishes. 

DANVILLE,  ILL.,  March  21,  '81. 

ABEL  JONES  :  My  Dear  Friend — Your  very  kind  letter 
is  at  hand  and  I  am  more  than  willing  to  give  you  every 
mite  of  information  I  can  on  the  subjects  and  questions 
inquired  about. 

I  am  glad  to  hear  that  yourself  and  others  are  looking 
to  the  great  west.  Now  is  the  time  to  make  the  move. 
It  is  to  be  the  seat  of  empire  in  the  close  .future,  if  we 
are  as  wise  as  we  ought  to  be.  In  compliance  with  your 
request  I  send  of  my  own  writings : 

"Letters  on  the  Platte  Valley,"  "Nebraska  climate, 
soil,"  "A  country  that  is  a  country,"  "The  valley  of  the 
Arkansas,"  "Kansas  for  homes,"  "Notes  on  Colorado  and 
New  Mexico,"  "The  Mountain  tops  and  valleys  low," 
"Rainfall,  sunshine,  the  empire  west,"  "Letters  on  West- 
ern Texas,"  "The  cattle  on  a  thousand  hills,"  "Summary 
of  climate,  soil,  stock  growing,"  "Agriculture,"  "Mineral 
resources,  Ophir  beat." 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper,  367 

Be  assured  anything  I  can  do  shall  be  done  to  help  you 
in  this  enterprise.  As  to  route :  Buy  your  tickets  via  the 
WABASH,  ST.  LOUIS  &  PACIFIC  RAILWAY.  That 
great  trunk  line  will  be  able  to  take  you  through  and  de- 
liver you  whole.  It  is  the  route  most  direct  and  most 
speedy  to  the  vast  section  you  are  going  to  examine.  By 
it  every  facility  will  be  afforded,  every  aid  given  to  fur- 
ther you  in  your  undertaking.  Ably  officered,  skillfully 
and  energetically  operated,  you  will  find  it  the  popular, 
"the  people's  route." 

And  when  you  get  ready  to  make  the  move  to  the  new 
home  you  will  find  this 

ROAD  THE  SAFE,  THE  SPEEDY,  THE  CHEAP  ONE. 

I  send  you  everything  pertaining  to  it — maps,  time 
tables,  with  full  instructions. 

As  I  am  getting  letters  similar  to  yours  from  New  Eng- 
land, the  east  generally,  I  shall  publish  it,  together  with 
mine,  in  THE  PEOPLE'S  ADVOCATE  and  in  a  circular  letter, 
both  of  which  I  will  send  you  and  which  you  can  furnish 
to  friends.  And  I  will  distribute  the  circular  letter 
throughout  the  country,  so  that  the  information  imparted 
to  you  may  reach  the  million.  Hoping  to  see  you  soon, 
I  am  yours,  as  ever.  J.  HARPER. 


THE  AUTHOR'S  REFERENCES. 


STOP  AND  THINK. 

"He  who  thinks  cannot  long  be  enslaved. — Newton  N. 
Riddle. 

He  who  creates  a  healthy  public  sentiment  does  more 
for  his  country  than  he  who  makes  votes  for  his  party. — 
A.  Lincoln. 


NOTICE. 

Since  my  public  discussion  of  the  great  social  and  eco- 
nomic problems  has  created  a  demand  for  my  services,  I 
take  this  method  of  announcing  myself  as  open  for  en- 
gagements. Lecture  committees  and  others  desiring  to 
secure  me  for  one  or  more  addresses  may  do  so  by  writing 
me  personally.  Address,  A.  C.  BARTON,  Danville,  111. 

Mr.  Barton  spoke  at  May  view  last  evening  and  deliv- 
ered a  fine  lecture.  Don't  fail  to  hear  him  to-night. 

S.  A.  KIRKPATRICK, 

Jan.  6,  1891.        State  Sec'y  of  the  State  Alliance. 

Mr.  Barton  is  capable  of  interesting  and  instructing  his 
audience.  His  ability  to  teach  upon  political  reform  sub- 
jects should  secure  him  hundreds  of  appointments,  and 
hope  he  may  continue  in  health  to  do  good  service. 

MRS.  MARION  TODD. 

I  have  been  acquainted  with  A.  C.  Barton  for  many 
years.  He  is  an  earnest  and  faithful  worker  in  the  cause 
of  reform.  As  a  teacher  he  is  honest  and  well  qualified 
to  instruct  in  the  economic  questions* that  now  agitate  the 
public  mind,  and  as  such  I  cheerfully  recommend  him  to 
the  industrial  organization.  A.  J.  STREETER. 

Mt.  Vernon,  111.,  June  10,  1891. 

This  is  to  certify  that  I  am  personally  acquainted  with 
Bro.  A.  C.  Barton,  of  Danville,  111.,  and  having  heard  him 
lecture  I  can  recommend  him  as  well  able  to  expound 
alliance  doctrine  and  to  be  an  excellent  advocate  of  the 
cause  of  the  people.  F.  G.  BLOOD. 

Sec'y  of  F.  A.  &  U.  I.  of  Illinois. 

Danville,  111.,  June  2,  1891. 

I  have  known  Hon.  A.  C.  Barton  intimately  since  1876, 

368 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  369 

and  co-worked  with  him  in  the  great  reform  movements 
that  are  agitating  the  country  and  the  world.  He  is  a 
thorough  educator  in  these  mighty  movements,  both  with 
pen  and  voice.  As  a  platform  speaker  he  is  strong,  con- 
vincing and  eloquent,  holding  his  audience  to  the  closest 
attention.  As  an  advocate  of  higher  civilization  and  hap- 
pier condition  of  the  masses  he  is  a  power.  Those  want- 
ing speeches  for  a  series  of  meetings,  or  a  single  one  at 
big  gatherings,  can  strengthen  the  cause  of  humanity  and 
build  up  their  own  cause  by  securing  him.  I  take  pleasure 
in  thus  speaking  of  him.  J.-  HARPER. 


U.  L.  CONVENTION  AT  LEBANON,  IND. 

September  13,  1890. 

Report  in  Express :  At  1 130  the  circuit  court  room 
was  well  filled.  *  *  Mr.  Barton  made  a  one  and  three- 
quarter  hours  speech;  he  held  the  audience  absorbed  in 
close  attention  to  the  facts.  *  *  His  arguments  were 
clear,  plain  and  solid.  *  *  We  recommend  to  any  who 
want  a  good  speaker  to  engage  him. 


IN  THE  OPERA  HOUSE. 

Mattoon,  111.,  October  9,  1890. 

Mr.  Barton,  an  alliance  and  industrial  union  organizer, 
gave,  as  the  cause  of  the  great  oppression,  the  contraction 
of  the  currency,  concentration  of  wealth,  railroad  and  land 
monopolies.  As  a  remedy  he  advised  that  $50  instead  of 
$5  be  issued  from  the  treasury  per  capita.  *  *  The 
speech  was  good,  and  as  "facts  are  stubborn  things,"  it 
had  a  telling  effect.  EDITOR  COMMERCIAL  (Dem.) 

Report  of  same  meeting  in  National  View,  Washing- 
ton, D.  C. :  A.  C.  Barton  made  the  main  speech  of  the 
evening.  His  speech  was  well  and  enthusiastically  re- 
ceived. He  kept  the  audience  frequently  applauding 
throughout  his  speech,  by  the  presentation  of  solid  facts. 


370  Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper. 

*     *     Such  speakers  should  be  kept  speaking  every  day; 
he  is  a  good  one. 


F.  M.  B.  A.  and  K.  OF  L. 

GRAND  PICNIC  AT  THE  FAIR  GROUND  AT  MARION,  IND. 

Dr.  William  McKinsey  is  in  receipt  of  a  telegram  from 
Hon.  A.  C.  Barton,  of  Danville,  111.,  stating  that  he  will 
be  here  to  address  the  county  F.  M.  B.  A.  and  K.  of  L. 
picnic.  The  laboring  men  of  this  city  are  requested  to 
attend  and  hear  Mr.  Barton,  who  is  reputed  to  be  one  of 
the  most  forcible  and  eloquent  public  speakers  in  the  west. 

THE  ADDRESS. 

A.  C.  Barton,  of  Danville,  111.,  a  member  of  both  K.  of 
L.  and  the  F.  A.  &  I.  U.,  was  introduced.  The  speaker 
is  a  laboring  man.  He  possessed  accurate  knowledge 
of  the  hardships  of  his  class  and  portrayed  them  in  lan- 
guage both  logical  and  eloquent,  and  his  talk  found  echo 
in  frequent  demonstrations  and  cheers.  *  *  He  will 
address  the  people  on  the  same  subject  at  the  opera  house 
this  evening. 

THE  MARION  DAILY  LEADER  (Dem.) 

F.  M.  B.  A.  RALLY  AT  WINDSOR,  ILL.,  NOV.  I, 

1890. 

MR.    BARTON    MAKES    AN    INTERESTING    AND    INSTRUCTIVE 
ADDRESS. 

By  i  :3O  at  least  2,500  people  were  gathered.  Mr.  Bar- 
ton was  billed  as  speaker  and  was  on  time  early.  *  * 
I  should  like  to  give  all  his  speech ;  it  would  be  valuable. 
He  spoke  for  two  hours  and  dealt  in  facts  that  no  man 
could  dispute.  It  is  said  by  those  who  heard  Mr.  Bools 
of  Springfield,  Tom  Reed  and  other  big  speakers,  that  Mr. 
Barton  made  the  best  speech  of  the  campaign  in  this  coun- 
ty. *  *  His  speech  had  a  telling  effect  here,  and  many 


Life  of  Col.  Jesse  Harper.  371 

congratulations  were  extended  to  him  after  the  speech. 
He  lectured  in  the  church  at  night.  At  7  o'clock  the 
church  was  full.  He  talked  on  a  different  subject,  but 
was  very  interesting;  it  was  a  good  lecture  and  the  com- 
mittee ought  to  keep  him  speaking  all  the  time. 

A  CANDIDATE  IN  NATIONAL  VIEW. 

Mr.  A.  C.  Barton,  of  Danville,  111.,  delivered  a  lecture 
at  the  Christian  church  on  Friday  night,  December  19,  % 
to  the  people  of  Ogden  and  vicinity,  on  the  great  ques- 
tions of  the  age.  Mr.  Barton  gave  cause  and  remedy  for 
hard  times,  and  made  some  good  points  on  the  silver  ques- 
tion. THE  OGDEN  JOURNAL  (Rep.) 

I  take  pleasure  in  recommending  Hon.  A.  C.  Barton,  of 
Danville,  111.,  as  one  of  the  leading  campaign  speakers, 
having  heard  him  address  three  large  gatherings.  He 
holds  his  audience  spell-bound.  I  should  like  to  have 
him  in  the  lecture  field  for  the  most  of  his  time.  He  is  a 
splendid  organizer  and  educator.  H.  E.  TAUBENICK, 

Washington,  D.  C. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS-URBANA 


LIFE  OF  COL.  JESSE  HARPER  OF  DANVILLE,  I 


